


Love And War, And Zombies

by Shinsun



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Blood and Gore, Everybody's Dying, Heartless Author, M/M, Major Character Undeath, Smut, Suspension Of Disbelief, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-11 01:29:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2048085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinsun/pseuds/Shinsun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zombie apocalypse AU. KagaKuro with some unrequited AoKuro in there. With an epidemic taking hold and squeezing the life out of the world, the remaining members of the GoM (and co.) band together to survive, but when loved ones become monsters and the group starts falling apart from the inside, it's no longer as cut-and-dry as killing zombies and staying alive</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Let her go, Aomine! For God's sake, let _go!"_

The urgent, strained commands fell on deaf ears, and Aomine clung to the convulsing body with fingers like claws, face buried in lackluster pink hair, his screaming sobs of raw grief only slightly muffled by the strands; each one a merciless blow to Kagami's gut. He pulled the tense, muscled arm again, trying to drag his friend away, but Aomine either refused or was unable to budge, shaking his head rigidly with wrenching, inarticulate sounds of denial that twisted at Kagami's heart.

"Aomine, we have to go! _Now!"_ he insisted, pleading as he put his strength into another desperate heave, and suddenly the weight was reduced drastically, and Aomine's solid figure was lifted away from the spasming body of his childhood friend, which fell to the pavement with a sickening, dead thud.

Glancing up at the source of his aid, Kagami glimpsed the towering form of Murasakibara, supporting Aomine's other arm and helping to hold him back, while the distraught man fought like a demon, trying to get free and return to Momoi's stiff, lifeless corpse on the bloodstained ground.

"Thanks," Kagami panted gratefully, breaking off with a grunt as Aomine's strong elbow plunged protestingly into his stomach.

"Neh...Mine-chin is very sad," Murasakibara observed dully, keeping his vice-like grip on Aomine's bicep, preventing him from moving despite his fervent attempts, lashing limbs, and frantic, ragged screams of "No! _No!"_

The dark man's face was a mess, now that Kagami could glimpse it. A grisly mask painted richly with Momoi's blood, streaked with grime and gore and the tears flowing freely from his wide, haunted eyes. Eyes that were fixed unwaveringly on the body on the ground, still twitching, foam frothing from once-soft, once-pink lips, eyes gone glassy and sightless.

"She's gone, Aomine!" Kagami shouted, trying to be heard over his screaming, "There's nothing we can do!"

"No! Let me go! _Satsuki - !_ " On that last, soul-rending screech, Aomine shuddered violently and crumpled, only kept from collapsing by Kagami and Murasakibara holding his arms hostage.

A calm voice broke into the chaos, "Let's get him out of here."

Kagami looked up from the horrifying sight of Momoi's eyes losing all color, becoming cloudy white, frozen open; and met a familiar, icy blue gaze belonging to Kuroko, who seemed to have just arrived at the scene, hoisting a heavy shotgun over his small shoulder, shirt and face spattered with red. He took Aomine's wrist in his free hand, helping Kagami and Murasakibara guide him, now unresisting, away from the splayed corpse soaking in a puddle of blood and viscera. Kagami could feel a significant amount of relief, to lay eyes on him; after he'd lost track of the pale bluenette in the fray, a gnawing, protective part of him was afraid he wouldn't see him return.

Heaving a sigh, Kuroko glanced back at him, eyes deadpan as ever, but leaden with sorrow, "Akashi-kun won't be pleased to hear that we lost another…" he murmured, "Momoi-san was a valuable asset, and now we're just that much frailer."

Aomine's shoulders shook and he made a sound like a hiccup, head hanging low and exhausted as he let himself be dragged along by the arms, stumbling over his own feet.

"Will he be okay?" Kagami found himself asking, jerking his chin in the incapacitated man's direction to indicate what he meant, "I mean...will he even be able to -?"

"Aomine-kun is strong," Kuroko replied levelly, "He will recover from this loss, and fight even harder to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else he loves."

Looking back for a moment at the parking lot they'd left behind, Kagami hesitated with his next question, "And Momoi…?"

"Is already changing, as we speak," Kuroko grit out between clenched teeth, keeping his gaze ahead, "She will be on her feet again before nightfall."

Kagami winced, his imagination already formulating a picture of the sweet, intelligent woman, shambling and drooling, oozing pus and corruption and death, hungering only for living flesh. As dusk slowly set, the parking lot was already being overrun with moaning, staggering droves of zombies…. They hadn't moved a moment too soon.

"What happened to your weapons?" Kuroko asked after a moment, eyes flitting from Kagami to Aomine - though he was unable to make eye contact - to Murasakibara, leaving the question open for any of them to answer.

"I ran out of ammo," Kagami explained, "So I took Momoi's pistol when she…" he let the sentence trail off, "But she didn't have much left either. Aomine dropped his so he could carry her out of there, but we...we didn't get far."

"I'm out of bullets too…" Murasakibara muttered, in his lazy, noncommittal drawl.

"Damn," Kuroko cursed, and both Kagami and Murasakibara blinked; it was rare that he ever swore, "So we're four guns and two people short of what we had this morning."

" _T-two_ people?" Kagami stammered.

"Akashi-kun's group lost one. They can't find Kise-kun anywhere."

"Did he…?"

"We don't know," Kuroko interrupted, frosty eyes calculating, "But if he's out there alone...it's likely he won't last the night."

"Aka-chin and Mido-chin are on their own then?" Murasakibara asked, leaning down so he could meet Kuroko's gaze, "Neh...I should go back to them."

"Not by yourself," Kuroko argued calmly, "And definitely not unarmed. We'll reunite with them, and the others, back at the shelter."

"What if they don't make it that far…?" Kagami began.

Kuroko fixed him with a steely glare, "We'll just have to have some faith. Don't forget who we're talking about; Akashi-kun hasn't led us astray yet."

Aomine seemed to have found his voice, though it was dry, brittle and pained, "He led Satsuki astray…"

"No," Kuroko said softly, glancing at his friend's gaunt, tortured face, "What happened to Momoi-san was a random occurrence. It could have been any of us."

"But he was the one who sent us -!" Aomine snarled, fighting the grip on his arms as he lunged at Kuroko, unsuccessfully, "And you'd take his side, Tetsu? Satsuki is _dead!"_

"I am not your enemy, Aomine-kun." the slighter man's level voice had taken on a gentler tone, at odds with his currently fierce and bloodstained appearance, "Focus your anger on Momoi-san's true killers."

Aomine fell silent, slumping again, unable to argue with him, and Kagami felt a twinge of what might have been guilt. He knew Aomine loved Kuroko, had for a long time, and that was why he surrendered to him like this without a fight. For some reason he didn't seem to resent Kagami for stepping in and claiming the small bluenette's affections for his own, and he continued to be Kagami's rival and even his friend...but he still sometimes got morose and distant, as though mourning the loss.

He had plenty of reason to despair today, after what he'd seen happen to one of his closest friends; after watching her die right in his arms and then...start the change. Given his way, he probably would have stayed clinging to her body all night, even after the transformation completed and she roused again; a mindless, lifeless killing machine.

Kuroko halted finally, and the others followed suit, Aomine lurching a little, as if not expecting the abrupt stop. The current base the group had staked out and fought tooth and nail to keep secure had once been an exercise gym, though most of the equipment was used for blockades rather than for its intended purposes. It was easy to keep watch in a room full of mirrors, though the windows to the outside had been boarded up entirely, but for small slats through which the muzzles of several forms of artillery had been fitted.

The main benefit was the underground level that had at one point been a workout center with a track and a now empty swimming pool. It was as secure as a bomb shelter, solid concrete with no windows, and contained a powerful generator that had kept actual, honest-to-God electricity running in the place; used sparingly in the nights they had spent there. It wouldn't last forever, but for now, being able to turn the lights on and take a hot shower at night made the grueling days just a little more bearable. The place had been stocked up with whatever weaponry, first aid supplies, and food they could gather, most of it hoarded down below. While Kagami could sense that the others felt safer underground, and treated the lower level like a bunker to retreat into if they lost the ground level, he was not so assured. If they were driven into that concrete, windowless cave and barred the door behind them, they would be trapped with no escape.

Kagami caught sight of a single brown eye peeking between the slats in the boards, and with much shuffling of heavy objects and clinking of chains, the door was wrenched open, and the bloody, exhausted foursome traipsed inside. Kuroko and Kagami immediately found themselves being swept up in a crushing hug by one person, as the door was once again bolted and braced behind them by two others; Mitobe and Himuro. When Riko finally allowed them air, she was beaming with undisguised relief, her tired eyes shining with a warmth reserved just for seeing her friends unharmed.

"You're okay! Thank God; when we didn't hear from Akashi since noon, we thought -" she broke off as Murasakibara let go of Aomine's arm, and the other man simply collapsed against the wall, as if every ounce of his strength had deserted him.

"...What happened?" she asked hesitantly, "Why is Murasakibara not with his group? Where's…?"

Kuroko released a low exhale, lowering his shotgun to his side, "Momoi-san is dead. And we lost track of Kise-kun in the struggle. The others should be on their way soon."

Riko covered her mouth with a hand, eyes going wide with horror. She and Momoi hadn't exactly gotten along well, but it was still a shock to hear of one of her compatriots' demise, no matter who it was.

After a moment, Himuro spoke up uncertainly, "At least...did you -?"

"No." Aomine growled, from where he was slumped defeatedly against the cracked plaster, "We didn't get food, or gas, and as usual, we didn't find anyone else. Couldn't even pick up a goddamn radio signal. Akashi's senseless mission of the day failed."

"You don't know that," Kuroko objected, a fervor in the otherwise passive words, "Maybe Akashi-kun and Midorima-kun found something."

"Fan-fucking-tastic, let's all celebrate." Aomine scowled sarcastically, standing up in a rush, "And is whatever measly scrap they may or may not have managed to dig up worth Satsuki's life?The gamble of going out there day after day is too damn high. It's pointless."

"We can't just stay here forever," Kagami pointed out, "We'd all die eventually."

"We're all dying _now_!" Aomine retorted, rounding on him with bared teeth, startlingly white against the dark gore smearing his face.

"We're still here." Kuroko said serenely, "Those of us that remain. And we can either band together or crumble from the inside."

Aomine grit his teeth, fists clenched, "I'm going -" he began in a snarl, some of the anger lessening to plain weariness when he went on, " - to get cleaned up." And he stormed off without another word; it only took Kagami a moment to see that he was still limping.

Kagami remembered his heart leaping into his throat, watching the dark bluenette hurtle forward and break through the windshield of the van that had been their previous shelter, sliced by shards of glass as he tumbled down the hood and fell onto the asphalt below. And why? Because he'd insisted the others take the seats with seatbelts, and when the car had crashed - running over a bullet-filled zombie corpse in the road - there had been no constraint or airbag to protect him. Aomine defended those that were close to him with a fire, and placed their safety far above his own. It was one of his greatest qualities, and one of his greatest downfalls.

"His leg still hasn't healed from last week," Kuroko murmured, as if reading Kagami's mind, "If he doesn't rest, it is going to get worse."

"None of us can rest," Kagami sighed, lacing their bloodstained fingers together,"You know that."

There was a long moment of heavy silence, and those assembled simply looked at each other, at a loss for words. Murasakibara, having grown bored, was rooting around in the box of food placed on one of the old bench press machines, no doubt looking for snacks; a search that was often in vain, and led to pouting and even occasional tantrums from the gigantic man. Eventually, since the questions and arguments seemed to have died down, Himuro approached Kagami and gave him a brief, fierce hug around the shoulders in passing, "I'm glad you came back safe, brother." he stated softly, voice casual, but carrying a deeper level of compassion to which Kagami could only give a short nod of acknowledgment.

Through the cracks between the wooden beams barring up the windows, it could be seen that night was falling quickly outside, and that was inciting the usual restlessness. The hordes of the lumbering undead seemed to multiply tenfold after dark, and the lack of light gave no cover; it had quickly become apparent that the zombies did not rely on vision to find their meals, nor on hearing or smell or any other ordinary sense...they simply seemed drawn to living creatures, as if a pulse was a magnetic field that pulled them in by the dozens. Kagami felt an unexpected pang to remember that they wouldn't have Momoi's help studying the monsters and collecting such helpful data anymore. They were on their own.

A rapping knock on the metal door jolted him out of his thoughts, and in fact made everyone in the room jump about a foot in the air. It was no surprise that they had all become tense and agitated; spooking at their own shadows and any sudden noise, and though it had gotten better with time, and since claiming this new, sturdier shelter, everyone was still far from okay. And understandably so.

Mitobe peered through the slats, and then gave a quick nod to no one in particular and started working at the barricade blocking the door. Snapping to action, just wanting to be of some use, Kagami turned to help him, moving the heavy weights and even an entire treadmill aside so that it could be opened. Immediately, Akashi staggered in, drenched from head to toe in blood, a pistol clenched in each hand. He was accompanied by a shaky, panting Midorima, sporting a hunting rifle, the barrel tied with a string of turquoise beads, which Kagami could only infer was an attempt at today's lucky item. But they were not alone.

"Is that…?" Riko began.

"Takao-kun?" Kuroko blinked, stepping forward to scrutinize the exhausted, equally blood-soaked person sagging against Midorima's shoulder. Takao opened one narrow, silver eye at the sound of his name, but said nothing, fatigue robbing him of his usual chatty nature. He was skin and bones, his dark curtains of hair hanging unusually lank and stringy about his ashen face. And unlike Akashi and Midorima, if the brighter crimson and sluggish flow down his face and neck was any indication, a good deal of the blood covering him was his own.

"What happened?" Kagami asked, laying a hand on Kuroko's shoulder and likewise sizing up the newcomer, "Where did you come from?"

Mitobe locked the door behind the trio and started piling dumbbells and crates against it again, but in the face of this new development, Kagami didn't jump in to help him this time. Himuro picked up the slack, dragging the treadmill over and pressing it up against the metal surface, and Takao was guided to sit down on one of the weight machines, Midorima remaining close to his former teammate as if he would keel over at any moment. _He just might,_ Kagami thought.

"We found Kazunari in an abandoned gas station," Akashi announced, his smooth, authoritative voice commanding the attention of everyone in the room, "Dreadful place, absolutely crawling with rats, and... _those_ vermin. We had no such luck obtaining any gas."

"I was... l-living off the food in the little...convenience s-store there...f-for about a week," Takao stammered, gingerly touching a hand to his forehead, and drawing it away immediately stained with fresh blood, "B-but it wasn't much; it had...a-already been ransacked by someone..."

"Was there anyone else there?" Riko prompted, clearly forcing patience to not sound like she was interrogating the poor man.

"Y-yes, I think he was...the store clerk, but...he was l-long dead when I got there."

Kagami tensed, "By dead, you mean…?"

"Bones," Akashi stated, his heterochromatic eyes resting on Kagami's for a brief, chilling moment, "I believe the man had taken a fatal blow to the head, when his store was robbed."

"How were you injured, Takao-kun?" Kuroko asked, concern lacing his matter-of-fact voice.

"T-two of the...of the zombies got into the store, and I t-tried to escape…"

"Were you bitten?" Himuro interrupted, speaking up from the other side of the room.

Takao shook his head, stopping when the motion seemed to make him dizzy, "A cooler fell off... one of the shelves and hit me in the head…"

"He was unconscious when we showed up," Midorima spoke, for the first time since arriving, "We heard the noise and went to investigate. If we had been a moment later…"

"Shintarou performed excellently," Akashi said silkily, "And carried Kazunari on his back as we fought our way out of there. We stopped to rest and revive him on the way back; that is why we are so late returning to you."

Midorima fell silent, looking at the floor, and Kagami thought he saw a pleased flush creeping up his face. A compliment from the captain of the Generation of Miracles, leader of their little group, was high praise indeed, and positive comments of any kind from him were few and far between.

After a few seconds' silence, Akashi spoke again, "Tetsuya, why don't you retrieve some antiseptic and bandages for our injured company?"

Kuroko glanced at Kagami quickly, and then nodded, "Right away, Akashi-kun. ….Kagami-kun, come with me; we can check up on Aomine-kun as well while we're down there."

Kagami inclined his head, and followed his "shadow" to the door that lead downstairs, to the underground level. He had seen the worried flash in Kuroko's usually inscrutable eyes, and knew he was concerned about Aomine being gone for so much time, especially in his current emotional state.

There was no sound of running water as they passed by the showering area, nor any humidity in the air; if Aomine had washed himself as he'd said he would, he had finished long ago. In fact, all around there was an eerie, complete silence, except for the quiet hum of a fan in the back of the room. The lights were all on, so someone must have been down there, but there were no other signs of life.

"Aomine-kun?" Kuroko asked, his relatively quiet voice reverberating in the still air.

"Yo, Aomine!" Kagami called, louder, listening to the echo of his own words, bouncing off the rounded walls.

There was a discouraging lack of reply.

"Well he couldn't have gone anywhere…" Kagami muttered, suppressing the painful pulse of worry that had gripped his stomach at the dead silence. Aomine was loud, by nature and merely with his presence. He wasn't easy to ignore, and it wasn't easy for him to disappear.

"We could split up, and look for him." Kuroko suggested tentatively, letting go of Kagami's hand with obvious reluctance.

"Alright," Kagami agreed. _If he's playing a trick on us, I am really going to tear him a new one._ Jumping out to scare them hadn't been funny in the past, and it certainly wasn't now...when so much else was absolutely terrifying.

Several minutes passed with no luck. Kagami located the medical supplies, and gathered what they would need to help Takao, but he found neither hide nor hair of one large, blue-headed idiot.

He just about jumped out of his skin as he heard Kuroko's voice again, closer as he'd come full circle around the room. "Over here, Kagami-kun."

Swallowing down bile at the uncertain tone of his voice, he traversed over to where his boyfriend was standing, legs feeling like lead. He didn't know what state he would find Aomine in when he got there, but if he hadn't responded to their calls…

Peering over Kuroko's shoulder, he caught a glimpse of a dark room he didn't recognize. As his eyes adjusted, they fell upon a very familiar, navy-haired figure, towel still in hand, curled motionless on the floor.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kagami and Kuroko exchanged a fleeting glance, and then rushed to the crumpled figure's side, Kagami dropping to his knees and shaking one tan shoulder, perhaps a little roughly.

"Aomine! Can you hear me?" he didn't like the frantic note in his own voice, and he didn't want to admit his heart was pounding with worry, but at the moment, he didn't give a damn; concern for his friend overriding all else.

All of that evaporated as Aomine stirred with a muzzy, grumbling sound, "Wha…?" He sat up halfway, rubbing one squinting eye with his fist, voice slurred with sleep, "Where'sa fire…?"

In a snap, Kagami's worry was replaced with irritation, and he shoved the shoulder he had just been shaking with a snort of disgust, "Bastard, you nearly gave me a fucking heart attack." He rose to his feet without another word, crossing his arms over his chest and turning away.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko said in a noticeably softer tone, "What are you doing lying here in the floor?"

Aomine gave a huge yawn, looking blearily up at him, "I got tired, so I took a nap." He replied simply, blinking a few times as if to clear his vision.

"Sleeping at a time like this?" Kagami scoffed disbelievingly, shooting him a venomous glare.

He watched awareness seep slowly back into dark blue eyes, as Aomine remembered where he was; the delirium and comfort of sleep dirtied by fear, conflict, and grief. For a moment Kagami felt a prickle of sympathy, and felt cruel for jerking him unceremoniously from his blissful slumber and back into the nightmare of the waking world, but then he pushed the emotion impatiently aside. _He made both Kuroko and me freak out for no reason. ...And anyway how on Earth is he_ that _heavy of a sleeper?_

"Did you not hear us calling you?" he demanded, baring his teeth.

Aomine gave a short grunt that could have meant anything and got to his feet, starting to stretch before tensing with a wince, one hand shooting reflexively to his injured leg. Kagami could see he'd changed his bandages himself, doing a rather sloppier job than Momoi had. He recalled a recent memory of her patiently picking pieces of glass out of the jagged, bloody slashes in his calf and knee, ignoring Aomine's grit-out swears and childish protests. They would no longer have her help with medical issues either...though he supposed Riko was a fair replacement, with all her experience taping players' legs. It wasn't quite the same...nothing would ever be the same.

He glanced at Aomine, noting that his eyes were heavy and downcast, his jaw squared and hands clenched tightly; he must have been thinking of Momoi too. After a moment, Kuroko approached him, laying a hand on his upper arm, which was about as high as he could reach without standing on his toes.

"At least you're alright, Aomine-kun."

Aomine forced a dismissive snort, his gaze drifting over Kuroko's blood-streaked face with the same dull regret and longing that Kagami was used to seeing in it. "Of course I am; what did you think?" His hand lifted from his leg and ruffled his friend's pale blue hair in a casual gesture of affection, and he disregarded the look of annoyance shot at him from two pairs of eyes; one turquoise, one crimson.

"We should head back upstairs," Kagami muttered awkwardly, as Kuroko returned to his side, "I got the first aid kit for Takao, and -"

"He's alive?" Aomine interrupted, "Here?"

"Akashi-kun and Midorima-kun located him in a gas station while they were scouting," Kuroko explained, linking his fingers with Kagami's once again; an action that soothed some possessive part of Kagami whose hackles had bristled at all the physical contact between his boyfriend and his rival, "He is injured, however, and will need to rest and eat."

"Great, another mouth to feed," the darker man muttered, joining them and slouching in the doorway, "Will he even be of any use to us?"

Kuroko's eyes flashed, "I am sure when he's recuperated, he will be. But it's not about whether people are _of use_ , what matters is that they're _alive._ ...Besides, we can stand to gain one more person when we've lost -" He broke off quickly at the look Aomine gave him, though his face remained impassive as ever.

Kagami shifted his feet, uncomfortable being bombarded with the waves of tension emanating from the two, "Let's go," he urged, tugging on Kuroko's hand, intertwined with his larger one.

.

.

"Ah, Daiki. So good of you too join us," Akashi greeted, as Aomine limped up the last two stairs, following the couple still holding hands in front of him. Giving his leader an acknowledging nod, he immediately leaned against the nearest wall, surveying the scene with an air of disinterest.

Himuro and Mitobe had been relieved from their shift guarding the entrance, and were now leaning against the treadmills on the back wall; the former conversing idly with Murasakibara, who had discovered a genuine Slim Jim in his search, and had the meaty snack shoved halfway down his throat, extracting it now and again to nibble at it rapturously. The others had gathered in a loose circle around the hunched form of Takao, who was perched on the seat of a bicep curl machine, sipping timidly from a bottle of water under so many scrutinous eyes. Midorima was closest to him, and Aomine caught him giving his former classmate ill-disguised, concerned looks sidelong through the smudged, cracked lenses of his glasses.

"Taiga and Daiki," Akashi ordered lucidly, "You will take up surveillance for the next two hours. Then you may rest and Tetsuya and Shintarou will replace you. Atsushi and Riko will take the midnight watch, and Ryou -" He broke off, correcting himself as he remembered the absence of Kise. _Akashi made a mistake?_ Aomine blinked, _Or nearly did, I guess..._ "I will take the dawn watch alone."

"I could help -" Takao began, looking up from where Riko was dabbing at his bleeding forehead with a damp cloth.

"No." Akashi fixed the other man with a completely calm glance, but Takao gulped and broke eye-contact in apparent terror, "You are injured, and likely suffering from a concussion; you are to rest for at least two days. Then I will consider your help."

"Y-yes sir," Takao mumbled.

Kagami handed Riko the box of medical supplies in his hand, leaning down to give Tetsu a swift kiss on the lips - Aomine looked away, stomach cramping and mouth going dry with that goddamn emotion, that could turn his eyes green and his words cruel if he allowed it to bubble to the surface - before releasing his hand and moving as bid to his post at the front of the room.

Tetsu had been important to him since the day they met in middle school, exceedingly so, as time passed. It had taken years of hesitation and downplayed implications, never mind the price of swallowed pride and rearranging of principles, to realize the feelings he had for the smaller man were more than just platonic, but even so he'd missed his chance...so many fucking chances he let slip through his fingers, and now Tetsu belonged to someone else. All his conflict and tedious self-examination was for naught. He could have blown into a fit of rage about that, and given Kagami the finger, never speaking to him again in his resentment, but...his rival and burgeoning friend was important to him too. And anyway, he doubted he would remain in Tetsu's good graces if he turned against his chosen.

So he tried to grin and bear with their relationship; looked away when they seemed to be rubbing it in his face, because of course they weren't, and it was just _that_ emotion...that damn green-eyed monster...that made him think so. He was the third wheel, but he forced himself to be okay with that, because he owed a personal debt to both of the former Seirin players, for giving him his love of basketball back, for giving the world some color again. And when the epidemic had struck and everything went to hell, he had much bigger things to worry about than his jealousy and his lonely right hand, but the reminders were still there. He didn't think they would ever fully go away, and he'd resigned himself to biding his time forever, watching Tetsu receive those heartfelt embraces and passionate kisses he still desperately wanted to be able to give, from another man. Beating down his ego, and his selfish impulses to sulk and give snide remarks whenever he saw them together had become almost second nature by now.

Pushing off the wall he was lounging against, Aomine stretched his arms behind his head and cracked his neck from side to side, trying in vain to loosen tension that never fully dissipated. Seating himself in one of the crappy, straight-backed chairs in front of the boarded window, he lined his eye up with the scope of the sniper rifle fitted through the slat, getting a quick glimpse of the surroundings outside. It was quiet...but that wouldn't last the night.

He looked up when Kagami sat beside him, likewise getting his bearings, and tried to meet his red gaze. Kagami shirked him off, staring through his scope at the empty street as if there were something really fascinating out there.

"Hey -" he started, only to be cut off.

"I'm still mad at you," Kagami said shortly, getting his fingers acquainted with the trigger of the rifle.

Aomine bridled indignantly, before shooting him a reproachful look that went either unseen or ignored, "What for?"

"You know damn well," the redhead muttered. After Aomine proceeded to look at him expectantly for several seconds, he released an explosive sigh and finally looked at him, "You made me worry. A lot."

Aomine snorted, "I'm not a snot-nosed little kid, you know. I can take care of myself."

"Bastard, I know that. But I…." Kagami grit his teeth and pressed on in a rush, "I care about your stupid ass, alright? You're so fucking reckless and you do such stupid things, I…" Aomine was about to deliver a stinging retort for the insults, but the words died on his tongue as Kagami went on, "...I don't want to find you at the end of my gun someday. I heard from Riko what it was like with Kyoshi and - " He broke off, and returned his eye to the scope, but not before Aomine saw the pain etched in the lines of his face.

"I wouldn't..." he began.

"Get real," Kagami snapped, without looking up, "If one of us was in danger, you'd throw yourself in front of a horde without a second thought, just like he did."

Aomine fell silent, unsure if he should feel offended or touched by the statement. He tried to envision Tetsu or Kagami, unarmed on the front lines, about to be mowed down by a wailing, staggering mass of undead flesh...defenseless... Kagami was probably right. If there was anything within his power that he could do to stop his remaining friends from going the same way Satsuki had...he wouldn't hesitate. He swallowed thickly, the memory of her stiff, cooling body jerking spastically in his arms still raw in his mind. It still seemed unreal...like a half-forgotten nightmare.

Kagami's shoulders tensed suddenly, and Aomine returned his focus to peering between the wooden boards, scanning with bated breath.

"Did you see…?" he whispered hoarsely, but Kagami didn't answer; tilting the gun in his grip, fingers already starting to squeeze on the trigger. Aomine pressed his face to his scope so quickly he almost gave himself a black eye, and it only took a moment of searching to find what his rival was aiming at. A pair of lurching, groaning zombies had rounded one of the broken down stores across the street, their greyed, peeling skin difficult to make out in the dark. Only their eyes, pearly white and sunken into dark, scabby sockets, gave a clear indication of where they were. Holding his breath, Aomine's fingers deftly found the rifle's trigger, and he adjusted the barrel centimeters at a time, trying to line up the X with the space between those bulbous, milky eyes.

Kagami fired first, absorbing the shock of the gun rebounding with his shoulder, the loud, hollow _bang_ splitting the stagnant silence. A gout of blood, appearing black in the darkness, burst from the first zombie's forehead, and its head jerked to the side, its slack jaw spraying drool and chunks of foam. Kagami shot again in quick succession, the second bullet also finding its mark, and the monster collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

Aomine's eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on the second zombie, its head had turned to the side, and he aimed at a point just above its decayed ear. His teeth jarred with the impact as he pulled the trigger, his ears ringing, and the zombie reeled, blood and brain matter spurting from the entry hole, its black tongue lolling out of its torn mouth. Firing again, even just about half-deaf from the blast, he still heard the wet thunk of the bullet puncturing the skull, and the second zombie also fell, sprawling lifelessly on top of its fellow.

"There'll be more," Kagami commented tonelessly.

Aomine wet his lips and nodded. He remembered when it used to sicken him, eradicating the animated corpses that had once been living, breathing people. Someone's neighbour, someone's parent, someone's child. All the gory, violent video games in the world hadn't prepared him for that, but now… Now he had mostly grown numb to it. And he wasn't sure that killing was something he wanted to be so comfortable with, but he didn't have a whole lot of choice.

He glanced over his shoulder, and glimpsed Tetsu, Mitobe, and Himuro unrolling the ratty sleeping bags that had been lined up against the wall, a bandaged Takao and a Murasakibara sans Slim Jim already asleep in theirs, undisturbed by the noise. Akashi and Riko were speaking to each other in an undertone, gesturing with their hands, with Midorima lingering beside them, glasses flashing as he inclined his head. The first few nights no one had slept, with all the intervals of quiet and sudden blares of sound, but now the gunfire had become a sort of lullaby. Strangely soothing. They'd all definitely lost a good deal of their hearing over the course of these last few weeks, and he didn't think any of them could manage to sleep in complete silence anymore.

After a moment, Kagami spoke again, but now his voice sounded tentative, "What do you think happened to Kise? Do you think he's…?"

Aomine sighed, and leaned an arm against the back of his chair, "I want to believe he's fine, you know I do. And hell, maybe he is; look what happened with Takao, but…" he sucked his chapped lower lip between his teeth in frustration, "Out of all of us, I think he's the least tough; the least fit for living in this hellhole. Even that old coach of yours is probably better suited to making it out there alone."

It made his head hurt to picture the cheerful, laughing model stooped and rotting; covered in scabs and sores, his sunny smile replaced by a permanent grimace, tawny eyes clouded over like those of a dead fish. He couldn't even bring himself to picture Satsuki like that, afraid he would puke...or break into tears, both of which were unacceptable.

"Of all people, he doesn't deserve to end like that," Kagami said quietly, "He's like a happy little kid."

Kise had been the one to uplift their spirits and lighten the mood, when things seemed bleak and hopeless...which they kind of always did now. He'd found things to smile about, and had coaxed laughter from his companions when nothing in the world was funny anymore.

"I hope he comes back okay," the redhead murmured, as if to himself, turning to gaze between the boards again, and letting the attempt at conversation drop.

Aomine blinked as Akashi stood up and fluidly, unhurriedly crossed the room. He watched him extract a Swiss army knife from his pocket and - without breaking stride - jab the blade into the plaster of the wall, drawing a thin, straight line down beside rows of others, like an inmate tallying their days in prison. The marks represented members of their group that had been lost, he knew, and he felt a twinge in his stomach to be reminded of Satsuki. Withdrawing the knife, Akashi shifted over a few centimeters and stabbed the wall again, etching in another mark, and Aomine's eyes widened. _Kise? He already counts him dead?_ The idea that even their captain was convinced the odds were that impossibly far from Kise's favor made him feel slightly sick. His gaze roved over the other tallies, nearly two dozen of them; all either comrades that had been part of their group who fell, or people they had recognized among the hordes, whether from school or otherwise. Kyoshi, Koganei, Izuki, Imayoshi, Sakurai, Kasamatsu, and many others had joined the ranks over time, and for each one Akashi had carved another line on the wall. A very flat, emotionless representation of what had once been a human being.

He glanced back at Kagami, to find his friend taking aim once again, squinting into the little round scope on top of his rifle, and he remembered what he'd said. ' _I don't want to find you at the end of my gun someday.'_ Kagami had deadly aim, rivaled only by Tetsu and Akashi when it came to sniping from afar, and nerves of steel; a trait they all had to possess to keep living like this. Leaning down to home in on his own target, he mentally shook his head at himself. He knew without a doubt, if he did find himself staring down the barrel of Kagami's gun, he wouldn't be staring for long, and he wondered if the redhead would even hesitate a second before pulling the trigger; turning him into just another mark etched into the plaster.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aomine's eyes slitted open, and for a moment he couldn't figure out what had awoken him; the room was still cloaked in darkness, the barest bit of moonlight filtering between the boards covering the windows, reflecting off the mirrors on the walls to create a lot of contorted and admittedly creepy shadows. Riko and Murasakibara were sitting in front of the window, rifles in hand, though the former seemed a lot more alert than the latter, not that this was surprising. It must have been a little after midnight. Did a gunshot from one of them wake him up? He doubted it; that hadn't been enough to jolt him from sleep in a long time. Around him, everyone else still seemed to be slumbering soundly, but when his eyes lifted he caught a flash of eerie light as a pair of different colored eyes blinked. _Akashi? Doesn't he ever sleep?_ He was perched on a chair like a shepherd watching over his flock, but his gaze wasn't on the forms in the sleeping bags on the floor; rather, it was fixed neutrally on the other side of the room.

Sitting up halfway to try to glimpse what he was looking at, he stiffened suddenly as two things registered at once. One, he was pretty sure he had just heard a quiet, very familiar voice attempting and failing to stifle a soft moan, breaking the prolonged silence; and two, he was pretty sure he now knew exactly what had woken him up...if the not-yet-morning wood pulsing against his inner thigh was anything to go by. Suppressing a sigh, he covered his eyes with one hand, and then raked it up into his hair in frustration. He didn't need to look, but glancing beside him he confirmed the two empty sleeping bags of Kagami and Tetsu, and his now fully awake ears were picking up the wet sounds of lips grappling and skin sliding together, of heavy, uneven breathing and muffled murmurs of carnal pleasure, coming from the very back of the room.

Slowly, he slid back into his sleeping bag, shifting uncomfortably and glad no one could see the tent he was making in it. He picked up a tiny gasp that he knew belonged to Tetsu, and guilty arousal and the gnawing, burning jealousy he didn't deserve to feel pooled in his stomach as he was assailed with mental images he tried futilely to banish from his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut, wondering if it would be possible to just ignore it all and go back to sleep, but his imagination and the ache between his legs wouldn't leave him alone, and with a frustrated curse under his breath his hand dropped to the growing bulge in his pants, mapping it absently through the fabric and releasing his breath in a silent rush.

How fucked up was he? That with his two best friends getting it on right across the room, he could be this hard and actually act on it? Sure, he had jerked off to fantasies involving Tetsu a fair few times - fantasies that would never see the light of day, he admitted resignedly - but Tetsu wasn't the only one kissing and grinding and groaning just a few meters away. Shame crawled over him like spiders as he slowly started stroking his own hardened flesh, trying his best to block out Kagami's deeper moans, but it was impossible not to hear them, chorusing quietly with Tetsu's lighter, more breathy vocalizations. And did he honestly have any right to listen to either of them?

Well, he supposed they could have taken their little romp downstairs...why stay here where they could be easily overheard? Maybe it felt...safer? He couldn't guess. He doubted anyone would reprimand them or tell them to stop, though; hell, Akashi was looking right at them and had said nothing. But Aomine was convinced Akashi wasn't really a normal, red-blooded human being to begin with. Whatever the case, if they were able, for even a moment, to forget the nightmare they were living in and find some semblance of bliss and happiness, he didn't think anyone in their group had the heart to rob them of it.

He could hear Tetsu panting something, some whispered comment or command he couldn't make out the words for, and his fingers slipped under his waistband slowly, roaming along his shaft, his breathing shortening in response to the sensation. His eyes slipped closed again, lips parting alongside Tetsu's suppressed whimper that sent little shocks of pleasure down his spine and right to his cock. He imagined he was the one inciting that sound, and an often-revisited image he'd invented and stored away of icy blue eyes and soft white expanses of skin flitted behind his eyelids. His tongue traced his own lower lip, and he wondered for the thousandth time what Tetsu's would taste like, his fingers squeezing the base of his arousal, sliding gradually down to the tip.

Gradually, his strokes began to synch up with the muted slaps of skin as Tetsu and Kagami moved together, and guilt and pleasure twisting together made his stomach feel tight, toes curling as he rocked his hips against his own hand, biting his lip hard to hold back the moan building in his throat. His breath was coming in ragged, uneven bursts that he forced himself to silence, legs tense and trembling as he pumped his own erection, working up to the peak even as the gasps and moans he could hear from the back of the room grew more urgent, the thrusts losing their rhythm, hips ramming together faster and harder.

Tetsu's tremulous voice rose, just barely, and then cut off abruptly with a strained little whimper as he came, and that did it for Aomine. Whole body shuddering, he might have grit out Tetsu's name between his teeth, nearly inaudible, as he spilled into his hand, pleasure roaring through him in waves as he jerked and pulsed with orgasm. Then, panting heavily, he came back down, and over his own racing heart he caught Kagami's low, muffled groan as he followed Tetsu's release, and he grimaced with something between mortification and exasperation with himself. With screwed up mind that fixated obsessively on the one thing he absolutely couldn't touch, and with his young, healthy body that leapt at any excuse to get him horny, even in inappropriate times like these.

"Shit…" he murmured to himself, swallowing thickly and wiping his sticky hand on the edge of his sleeping bag - it was already tattered and dirty; what was to ruin? - before tucking himself back into his pants. Tetsu and Kagami were breathing heavily, whispering softly to each other now and then, but for once Aomine firmly did not want to hear what they were saying. His head was starting to hurt, and he wondered if his body was rebelling against what he had just done; as if he needed any more reminders.

 _Maybe now I can sleep…_ He curled up into a ball and tried to empty his head of his jeering thoughts, mixed with the lingering illusions of silky, pale blue hair between his fingers and those breathless whispers in his ears, directing, pleading, and loving him alone. Something in his chest ached mercilessly, and he bit back a frustrated growl, rubbing over his heart, as though that would soothe the emotional pain.

.

.

Aomine must have fallen back asleep at some point, but it wasn't long, and it was still pitch black out when he was jolted awake by something hammering on the door. Glancing around, he saw the others were up as well, Kagami and Tetsu thankfully clothed by now. Akashi was on watch, on his feet with his rifle still in hand, but he was inactive, completely still and peering through the slats in the window with something like indecision.

"What is it?" Riko was the first to ask, taking a step towards their leader hesitantly.

Akashi glanced over his shoulder, his cold gaze unreadable.

"Ryouta…" he said slowly, lowering the barrel of his gun a little, "...has returned to us."

Aomine was on his feet before he'd finished speaking, banishing fatigue from his protesting body and advancing on Akashi, "Then what are we waiting for? Let him in!"

The pounding on the metal door continued, sounding frantic, and Akashi took his sweet time answering, shifting his stance slightly as he scrutinized Aomine.

"We do not know what condition he may be in; he could be a danger to us all right now."

Through the door, Aomine made out a muffled shout he recognized as Kise's, "Open the door! Please, they're coming!"

Clenching his hands into fists at his sides, Aomine paused a moment to see if Akashi would waver at the desperate plea, and then stormed right past him to the door.

"Stop, Daiki." Akashi ordered calmly, without moving and inch or even blinking.

Aomine stopped reflexively, as if his instincts sensed the doom that would rain upon him if he disobeyed that soft, lucid voice. Gritting his teeth, he turned his gaze on his leader, Kise's panicked shouting still reverberating in his ears.

"Wait, Aomine-kun, we should..." Tetsu began, from the loose gathering the others had formed.

Slowly, deliberately, Aomine hissed out two shaking words, "Fuck that."

Akashi tensed almost imperceptibly, and just about everyone else in the room simultaneously held their breath.

"I'm not going to let another one of my friends die when I can do something to stop it," Aomine went on, conviction to protect the people he had left warring with instinctive trepidation of the mildly disapproving look crossing Akashi's face. Forcing his body out of whatever invisible choke-hold Akashi's eyes had placed on him, he turned and cleared away most of the blockade guarding the door, shunting boxes and other debris, and wrenched the door open. Immediately, a very shaken Kise stumbled inside and collapsed against him.

"Oh, thank you Aominechi! I thought I was a goner back there!" he wailed, gripping the front of Aomine's shirt to keep himself standing.

Aomine heard the door click shut, the distant moans of approaching zombies turning muffled, and looked up to see Kagami there, starting to replace the barrier against it without a word, face a dutiful mask.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a moment, looking the distraught blond over uncertainly. His face and shirt were painted with dark brown stains of dried blood, and he was unarmed and pale as a sheet, his golden eyes haunted, but otherwise he seemed alright, "How did you manage out there all on your own?"

"I just kept shooting I guess," Kise shrugged, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck, "But then the zombies that had been following me were dead, and Midorimachi and Akashichi were gone, so I started heading back, but I got kinda lost… More zombies started chasing me by the time I found my way here. And I saw…" he broke off for a moment and cast Aomine a hesitant look before going on, "...I saw Momochi, she...it's awful."

Aomine averted his gaze sharply, unprepared for the returning surge of grief that crashed over him like a bucket of ice water. "I know." he said shortly, stepping back from Kise slightly and aware of everyone's eyes on him.

Akashi broke the subsequent quiet, and his usually relaxed if authoritative voice sounded almost rigid, "Were you bitten, Ryouta?"

Kise shook his head, blond bangs clotted with old blood swaying in front of his eyes, "Nope. A few got close, and one of them did scratch me, but -"

Akashi's eyes widened the barest bit, but it was enough for Kise to fall silent, biting his tongue. Aomine stepped forward again, about to protest the decision he could already see forming on Akashi's face, but the words tumbled away from him as the other spoke first, icily.

"Show me."

Kise gulped, and with trembling hands, he lifted his shirt a little, revealing two or three shallow gouge marks along his stomach, sluggishly oozing blood. The area seemed reddened, but it wasn't a serious wound. Nonetheless…

"No." Aomine managed instantly, before Akashi or Kise could speak, shaking his head fervently, "We haven't seen proof yet that -"

"Ryouta's skin has been broken by one of the undead." Akashi interrupted stonily, "That is reason enough to consider him a threat."

"Listen to yourself!" Aomine shouted, moving to stand in front of Kise, as if shielding him, "Kise, a threat? One tiny scratch won't make him our enemy!"

"We don't know that." Akashi replied simply, "And I will not put everyone in danger when we have survived this long. One miscalculation, one tiny scratch, may be all it takes."

Kise, who had shrank behind Aomine pitifully, spoke up, "Wh-what are you going to do?"

"We cannot harbor a potential killing machine in this one safe place." Akashi answered, not meeting his gaze.

"Don't throw me back out there!" Kise begged frantically, "It-it's just a scratch, maybe I won't...maybe…"

"A 'maybe' could be the death of us all." Akashi murmured.

" _Please!"_ Kise sobbed, clutching Aomine's shoulders from behind him, as if he would protect him from Akashi's wrath, "Please, Akashichi, don't do this!"

"Akashi-kun, perhaps we shouldn't…" Tetsu spoke up, his blue gaze on the floor.

"Yeah, I mean...we'd know if he was starting to change," Kagami added uneasily.

"We cannot all be constantly monitoring Ryouta," Akashi said, "We need to be on high alert; we don't have enough eyes."

"Two is all you'll need." Aomine growled, meeting Akashi's heterochromatic eyes unwaveringly, "Give me a pistol and I'll be on Kise like his shadow. If I see him start to change, I'll shoot."

Akashi was silent a moment, mulling this over, and when Aomine glanced at Kise, his expression seemed somewhere between grateful and terrified. He supposed he had kind of just threatened to put a bullet in his head, and Kise's fate still hung in the balance, so he thought that fear was justified.

"Your words are bold, as always, Daiki." Akashi stated coolly, "And your intentions are fair. However. While your mind is hard, you and I both know that your heart is soft...and when the moment of truth arrives...I do not believe you will have it in you to pull the trigger."

"Have someone else do it, then." Aomine retorted, taking a moment to nurse his injured pride and acknowledge that while they pissed him off to no end, Akashi's words did ring true. He didn't know if he was physically unable to make himself destroy a friend, but he did know he was very unwilling, and had clung to Satsuki's body even after she started to change, refusing to accept it.

"And whom would you suggest?" Akashi asked, looking around at those that were gathered, "Who would be willing to fire upon Ryouta if he should turn?"

There was a pregnant pause, in which Kise cast about desperately, looking for an ally among the forcibly stoic faces. Then…

"I'll do it."

Aomine blinked and whipped around to see Kagami's hand raised, grim determination on his features.

"Kagamichi?" Kise sniffled, sounding at once hopeful and nervous. Aomine had to admit he was a good choice; he was compassionate and cared for those that were close to him, but when it came to desperate situations, he could keep a cool head and decide the rational thing to do...and he was a stone-cold killer when it came to zombies, no matter what or who they looked like.

Akashi's eyes scanned over Kagami briefly, calculating, and he inclined his head, "Very well. Arm yourself, Taiga; you will henceforth be Ryouta's babysitter until we are certain he is in the clear. You know the signs, and if he begins to display them...do not hesitate."

Kagami nodded, still keeping up the feigned emotionlessness that Akashi's presence was demanding, but Aomine saw a quick flash of sympathy cross his scarlet eyes when he passed by Kise.

"Thank you Akashichi, thank you!" Kise groveled tearfully, actually sinking to his knees in his relief, grabbing onto the lower hem of Aomine's shirt like a child.

Aomine was silent for a moment, still fixing Akashi with the harshest glare he could summon. Leader or not, he had no right to barter people and pick and choose who lived and who didn't, and he had no right to throw Kise out into a mob of flesh-hungry monsters on a mere suspicion.

Kagami returned, pistol in hand, and apparently seeing the ugly look on Aomine's face, he thwacked him lightly on the back of the head.

"Ahomine, keep your head on your shoulders where it belongs. This isn't the first time you've defied Akashi; you're going to run out of second chances eventually."

"I don't care." Aomine muttered stiffly, "He...what he was going to do wasn't right."

"It's not our place to say that," Kagami shrugged, "There's a reason he's the leader. He knows what's best for the greater good."

The matter-of-fact words rubbed Aomine the wrong way, and he bristled, "Would you have stood by and watched while Kise was trapped out there alone, until the zombies caught up and tore him to shreds?"

Kagami winced, but held his ground, "We didn't know if he was bitten, or in the process of changing already, we didn't know...anything."

"And that's reason enough to let him die?" Aomine demanded.

Kagami was silent a moment, studying the handle of the pistol in his hand, "You think you'd be able to lead better? Challenge Akashi for it, then."

"Maybe I will."

"We both know you won't win. Can't you just cooperate like everyone else?"

Aomine's arms crossed, "Not when my friends are in danger. I already lost one, and that's one too many."

"I know what happened with Momoi was awful, but...sometimes you're going to have to put your emotions aside and think practically."

"You really would just shoot me, wouldn't you?" Aomine scowled, "If I'd transformed. What if it was Tetsu?"

Kagami blanched, "That's...not fair to ask. We could play the 'what if' game all night."

"No, I want to know." Aomine pressed, "If it was Tetsu out there, banging on the door with a horde inbound, would you have pretended not to hear because Akashi told you to stay put?"

"I would...do what I had to." Kagami said slowly.

"That's not an answer. When did you become such a fucking pawn, Kagami?"

Kagami stiffened, and turned away, reaching out and dragging Kise by the collar of the shirt with him, throwing a curt response over his shoulder.

"Since the game turned into life or death."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kagami had carried much larger artillery, but the pistol in his hand somehow felt like the heaviest gun he’d ever held. Only three bullets - he’d double-checked - and the promise of instant death waited in its chambers. He knew it, and the blond sitting next to him, nervously fidgeting, knew it too. Neither were allowed to sleep, but that was just fine, because Kagami didn’t think they were able to right now, with so much tension weighing down the air. Conversation was sparse and awkward, and Kise seemed to have difficulty meeting Kagami’s eye, his gaze focused on the short barrel of the pistol aimed threateningly at his head.

“The safety is on right now, you know; you don’t need to keep up that deer-in-the-headlights look,” Kagami had tried feebly to reassure him, “I won’t shoot you on accident.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Kise lied with a tight, shaky laugh, running a hand through his rather tangled blond hair.

Sighing, Kagami lowered the pistol to give him at least a little room to breathe. He didn’t have to hold him at gunpoint all night, did he? He just had to be ready if he started to change… If he had been bitten, he probably would have transformed a long time ago, but it was possible that a scratch would take more time to take effect, if it did at all.

In all honesty Kagami would rather not stay up all night guarding Kise in the case that he turned into an undead, slobbering monster. If he had to stay awake, he would much rather spend the time with Kuroko, or Himuro, or hell, even Aomine...but he’d volunteered to take this job, and he supposed he shouldn’t back out just because it was boring. Kise’s life was on the line.

_Akashi had better not make me go on patrol today, though...I’d probably fall asleep standing up and get eaten or something…_

In fact, his eyelids did feel unnaturally heavy, and he had to struggle to keep them open; Kise’s worried face blurring in and out of focus as he forced himself to stay awake. He was exhausted, and not just from the day before, and the emotional trauma of Momoi’s death; making love with Kuroko had also taken its toll on his stamina. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and catch at least a wink of sleep before the sun came up...

“....Kagamichi?” Kise’s tentative voice broke into his train of thought, as if afraid he would startle Kagami into pulling the trigger on him - even if it wouldn’t do anything right now - and he realized he’d actually been dozing off.

His head snapped up, “Uh...what?” he slurred stupidly.

Kise rubbed his upper arm indecisively, and opened his mouth before quickly closing it again. He shifted and averted his gaze, looking at the gradually lightening window.

“What’s the matter?” Kagami prodded, sitting up straight as he came back to full awareness.

“It’s um...it’s nothing, really,” Kise shrugged, glancing back at him and attempting a cheery smile that looked more like a nervous grimace, “Just d-didn’t...want you falling asleep on me is all.”

Kagami wasn’t fooled, and scrutinized him closely, suddenly wide awake and prickling with unease, “Kise. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Swallowing thickly, Kise twiddled his thumbs in his lap, refusing to look at Kagami, “I just...feel kind of sick…It’s no big deal though,” he added hastily, as Kagami’s eyebrows started to rise, “Just a stomachache, I think, I didn’t eat anything yesterday…”

“Is it bad?” Kagami asked warily, fingers tensing around the gun in his hand, trying to subtly find the trigger without drawing attention to what he was doing.

Kise’s lower lip trembled, and after a moment he nodded stiffly.

“Should I tell Akashi?”

Immediately, Kise shook his head, a glint of terror coming into his eyes that he failed to conceal from Kagami.

Kagami hesitated, warring with himself, and after a moment, his fingers moved, and a tiny click could be heard. Kise paled.

“Don’t panic.” Kagami said softly, “I just turned the safety off, that’s all.”

”“K-Kagamichi…” Kise stammered, in a desperate undertone, looking at him with fearful, watery eyes, “I...I don’t wanna die.”

“You’re not going to die. Don’t worry.” He couldn’t find conviction for the words, but he hoped he at least sounded like he was confident, “This is just in case, I promise.”

But Kise wasn’t listening, “I’m too young to die; th-there are things I want to do, things I want to see, and I don’t wanna die a virgin!”

Kagami lightly hit him over the head, “Get a grip and keep your voice down, idiot. The others are trying to sleep.”

Rubbing his scalp, Kise’s look of panic briefly subsided to a childish pout, “So mean…th-that was really insensitive.”

Kagami rolled his eyes exasperatedly, “Stop whining already; you’re such a girl sometimes, I swear.”

“...Kagamichi?” Kise asked uncertainly after a moment, voice wavering.

“Hm.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

Kagami blinked, and after a moment he shook his head, “No, I’m not going to.” Technically it was the truth; if Kise transformed, he would already be dead before a bullet came anywhere near him. Kagami had not been assigned to murder him, only make him inanimate if he turned.

Kise was still shaking slightly with fear, but inclined his head slightly, “Good…” He tried to give Kagami a grateful smile, he could see it in the strain on his lips, but instead his teeth gritted together around a weak sound of pain.

“Do you want to lie down?” Kagami offered. Surely Kise didn’t have to sit upright all night when he’d just been trekking all day shooting zombies on his own. He’d gotten up, about to guide the blond to the sleeping bags across the room, but Kise abruptly crumpled, keeling out of his chair and crashing to the floor.

“Kise?” Kagami blurted, perhaps a little louder than he should have, going rigid with shock. Kise groaned something inarticulate, shivering violently where he laid curled on the floor, and as Kagami watched a spasm wracked his body, his tawny eyes rolling back slightly.

A strong hand clamping on his shoulder made him flinch, and he whipped around to see Aomine right behind him, no trace of weariness in his dark eyes, and he wasn’t alone. Kuroko, Riko, and Akashi were gathered around him, and it occurred to Kagami that they had only been pretending to sleep, listening for any change in the status quo. Glancing over, he could see the others were awake too, peering over at him warily.

“What happened?” Aomine demanded, stance squared and determined. Kagami noted that he wasn’t favoring his injured leg anymore, and the look on his face was stubborn and resilient. He absolutely wasn’t going to let one of his friends die if he could in any way prevent it. ...But Kagami didn’t think he could prevent this.

“I dunno, he just...collapsed,” Kagami managed hoarsely, hands shaking as they fumbled to hold the pistol he was gripping steady.

Akashi sighed quietly, “As I feared. ...Ryouta is starting to change,” his dismayed voice turned brisk suddenly, “Taiga. Shoot him now.”

“But -” Kagami began, turning to look back at Kise’s shuddering form curled on the ground. His already pale skin was gradually turning a dull, dead grey, but he was still gasping for breath, and his eyes still blinked and roved around in terror, strangled sounds of pain escaping his twitching lips. _He’s still alive...he hasn’t turned completely yet._

“Don’t you dare, Kagami,” Aomine growled, taking a step forward, “It’s not over yet.”

“There is nothing we can do,” Akashi said calmly, “Only put Ryouta out of his misery. It is too dangerous to let him transform fully.”

“You’re asking Kagami to become a murderer?” Aomine rounded on Akashi, teeth bared with hostility.

“Aomine-kun,” Kuroko cut in, voice impassive, but his eyes were insistent, “Please stand down. Let Akashi-kun and Kagami-kun handle this.”

“Kise is not dead!” Aomine argued, turning to Kuroko with the same rage, “Look at him! Maybe it’s not too late; there might be something we can do to stop -!”

“We already know there’s no antidote,” Riko muttered, wringing her hands and keeping her gaze on the floor, “None that we know of.”

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Aomine snarled, burning eyes snapping back to Kagami, “Kagami, you’re with me at least, aren’t you?”

Kagami gulped, looking at all of them, and then back at the blond writhing and choking behind him, froth coating the lips that photographers all over Japan had once clamored to see turned up in a glamorous smile.

“Pull the trigger, Taiga,” Akashi commanded, voice collected yet compelling, advancing toward him ominously.

Instinctively, responding to the aura of authority and fearing the unspoken punishment in those eerie eyes, Kagami pointed the pistol at Kise shakily.

“Oh, hell no.” Aomine snapped, and lunged, grabbing for the gun in Kagami’s hands as if to yank it away from him. Startled, Kagami jerked around, and a loud, reverberating bang made everyone in the room - including Kise - freeze.

Aomine stumbled back a step, and simultaneously ten sets of eyes looked over at the hole that had been blasted in one of the wooden boards covering the window. Simultaneously, everyone remembered to inhale.

“Holy shit…” Aomine breathed, hand reaching up to absently rest over his heart, which must have been racing.

Kagami was in the same boat, “I...I could have killed you…” he whispered, staring at the bluenette’s wide eyes, almost unable to comprehend what he’d nearly done to his friend.

Akashi, apparently, had decided to take advantage of the moment of shock, and he wrenched the pistol out of Kagami’s grip before anyone noticed him move. Both Kagami and Aomine whirled around, but they couldn’t move fast enough, and, expression hardening, their leader took aim and fired. Kise’s distorted yelp was instantly cut off; bright red blood bursting from his forehead, and then he went very still, his golden, cat-like eyes gradually turning dull and lifeless. Crimson dribbled from his brow, down his cheek, and onto the floor, where it gathered in a spreading, sickening puddle.

“Oh my God... Kise...” Aomine was the first to murmur hollowly, and Kagami saw his legs shake, as if they were having difficulty supporting him.

“Kise-kun…” Kuroko echoed, his usually emotionless voice trembling slightly.

Kagami said nothing. He felt like his throat had closed up, like he was going to vomit. He’d killed dozens of zombies over the last few weeks, but this was the first time he’d seen a person who was still living and breathing die right in front of him.

Riko sniffled, and Kagami saw her wipe at her eyes unsteadily, and she wasn’t the only one; Kuroko’s eyes were also unnaturally bright, brimming with tears, and he saw Midorima take his glasses off conspicuously to clean them on his shirt, gaze resolutely hidden from view. The air of sorrow was hesitant, after the shocking, violent manner of Kise’s death, but it was catching up to them slowly as the the loss finally registered.

Aomine, on the other hand, was flat-out furious.

“Akashi, you fucking bastard!” he shouted, launching himself at the smaller man, who stood composed, unfazed, beside the body of Kise bleeding out at his feet.

“Aomine, don’t!” Kagami protested, holding out an arm to stop him in his tracks. It wasn’t easy to hold the large man at bay; he was strong and heavy, and moving at a considerable velocity. Kuroko stepped in quickly to help him, his surprising strength helping push Aomine back.

“ _No!_ He killed Kise; I’ll kill him!” Aomine roared, fighting against both of them, and eventually Midorima and Murasakibara as well when they joined in, gripping the back of his shirt to hold him back. Four people, two of them taller than him, were still barely enough to prevent Aomine from attacking Akashi and pummeling him within an inch of his life. Except it probably wouldn’t work out that way if he did get loose and charge at his leader. The spark of dire warning in Akashi’s red-and-gold eyes promised retribution, and it certainly wouldn’t be pretty.

One of Aomine’s fists connected with Kagami’s jaw, and, sputtering a curse, he recoiled, and then slapped the bastard across the cheek in retaliation. All at once, Aomine stopped, looking taken aback and a little insulted, but no less enraged than a moment ago.

He didn’t get a chance to deliver either a verbal or physical response, because Akashi took the split-second of silence to draw attention back to him, walking leisurely over to Aomine, poised and neutral as ever.

With a detached air, he trailed the end of the pistol still loosely cradled in his hand along Aomine’s cheek, following the slightly-reddened skin where he had been slapped.

“Goodness, Daiki...that was quite the display,” he said serenely, withdrawing the gun when he saw sweat break out on Aomine’s forehead. Kagami could feel the bluenette’s whole body had gone tense, and he couldn’t blame him for that. Akashi was perfectly relaxed, civil, but there was an unfathomable air of danger looming over him like a malicious black cloud. Put simply, Akashi was pissed, and Aomine was going to pay, one way or another.

Aomine’s indigo eyes tracked his leader cautiously, his breath coming in uneven gasps. With his hands braced against his rival’s chest, Kagami could feel his heart hammering, and he swallowed, unnerved; following Akashi with his eyes as well.

Stepping back slowly, seeming unconcerned, Akashi looked away for a moment, and a small, gentle smile touched his face when he turned back around. It was the single most terrifying sight Kagami had ever seen; he wanted to turn tail and run until he couldn’t run anymore, but he held his ground, locked in place by those sharp, patient eyes.

“You have displeased me, I hope you know,” Akashi murmured. Then, in a flash, his arm whipped up, and another echoing bang, followed almost immediately by a scream, shattered the relative quiet. Aomine collapsed, as four sets of hands that had been supporting him a moment ago jerked away in surprise. Kagami reeled, staring disbelievingly at Aomine on the floor, still screaming in agony and clutching his newly-healed leg, blood seeping between his fingers. It took a long, horrifying moment for Kagami to realize Akashi had shot Aomine in the kneecap.

“Do not defy me again,” Akashi stated calmly, setting the pistol down on the chair beside Kise’s corpse and walking away, as if he hadn’t just put a bullet in his former teammate’s leg.

Quickly kneeling beside Aomine, Kagami hooked an arm under his shoulder and pulled him to sit up, and noticed Kuroko on his other side doing the same.

“Get the first-aid kit,” he ordered, to no one in particular, his stomach turning over at the sight of the red stain rapidly soaking through the cuff of Aomine’s shorts, dripping down his shin.

“Fucking _fuck_ ,” Aomine grit out in a pained gasp, eyes squeezed shut, refusing to move his hands from clamping down on the wound.

It took almost half an hour to calm him down, during which Riko and Mitobe worked at his knee, once Kagami managed to pry his hands away. It was messier than he’d expected, and more than once Aomine’s head would loll back, eyes fluttering closed, and Kagami would have to shake him to keep him from passing out. He didn’t stop swearing the entire time, calling Akashi increasingly more creative and obscene insults, probably exhausting at least half of his verbal arsenal and stretching his vocabulary to the breaking point. No one tried to stop him. It was only a matter of time before the shock and pain shut him down, however, and eventually he did lose consciousness. It was then that Riko regretfully told Kagami and Kuroko her bad news, while Mitobe dutifully finished with the bandages.

“Well the bullet did some serious damage,” she sighed, wiping Aomine’s blood from her hands, “Luckily it’s not lodged in there, but without a hospital - which we obviously don’t have available - it’ll be a miracle if his leg doesn’t get infected, and he’s not going to be able to properly use it again…”

“For how long?” Kuroko asked in a hushed voice, leaning against Kagami as if for comfort.

“Ever, probably,” Riko made a helpless gesture, shoulders slumping, “Akashi crippled him, and he’s going to have to deal with that for the rest of his life. One way to stop an uprising, I guess, though he did kind of put one of his best shooters out of commission; I don’t agree with that psychopath’s methods.”

Kagami let out a low exhale. He remembered a time when “shooter” referred to Aomine’s skill in basketball. Now his deadly aim was not directed toward metal hoops, but once-living people. ...And now it would be impossible for him to play the sport he loved ever again, provided they even got out of this nightmare alive.

.

 

.

Aomine had woken up in pain before, but this was fucking ridiculous. It felt like the whole lower half of his body was on fire, and even without budging an inch he knew that leg was going to be a bitch to move...if it even could anymore. A jolt of fear stabbed through him, and his eyes snapped open. His blurry gaze landed immediately on a pair of narrow, silver eyes looking back at him, beneath a thick white bandage and curtains of straight black hair.

“Ah, you’re awake, finally!” Takao announced cheerily, the volume of his voice grating on Aomine’s ears, adding yet more pain to the pile he was already suffocating under, “That’s great, it’s been so boring since everybody fun left.”

Setting his teeth, Aomine tried to sit up, but a lance of wicked agony from his leg - eliciting an undignified whimper that he would deny for the rest of his natural-born life  - convinced him to stop and just lie still. Maybe never try to move again.

“What is this… Infirmary for the insane and annoying?” he panted, voice rusted from pain and lack of use.

Takao snickered, “Yep, welcome aboard.”

 _Dammit...I set that trap right up for myself…_ “What did you mean...when you s-said everyone left?”

“Everyone entertaining. Only ones here are that guy with the birthmark, the guy who never says anything, and Seirin’s old coach. And they’re no fun to mess with; I wish Shin-chan or Kuroko were here.”

_Himuro, Mitobe, and Riko...same guards as yesterday, then… What’s Akashi playing at?_

As soon as the name crossed his mind, burning, corrosive rage bubbled from his stomach like acid. He craned his neck slightly to try to get a look around. It must have been around midday; the guards were all diligently at their stations, a new box of food along with several weapons and boxes of ammunition were placed on the weight-lifting machines, and as his eyes roved to the corner where Kise had met his untimely end, he was surprised to find it empty, not even a smudge of blood to indicate the gruesome act that must have taken place only a few hours ago. ...Something didn’t add up here.

“What happened?” he muttered, more to himself than his chatterbox of a companion, but Takao answered anyway.

“Oh, you should have seen it! Kagami, Kuroko and the others all ganged up on Akashi and ranted at him about his crappy leadership skills and oppression and stuff. Said they weren’t going to live under a tyrant, and if he was going to go around shooting anyone who put a toe out of line, they were going to demote him.”

Aomine blinked, startled, “Did they do it?”

“Kinda,” Takao smirked, “Kagami definitely knocked him down a peg or two when he threatened to shove him out the door unarmed and see how well he served as zombie bait.”

It was difficult to believe his ears, and Aomine was pretty sure his jaw was on the verge of coming unhinged, “Damn, that Bakagami’s got some balls…” he remarked, grudgingly impressed.

“So he’s not in charge anymore,” Takao went on, eyes gleaming like he was delighting in sharing the freshest gossip, “But he’s sticking around, and of course he sucks at taking orders -”

“Wait, hold on,” Aomine cut in, gaping and beyond confused,  “ _Akashi_ taking orders? From who?”

Takao looked at him deadpan, like it was oh so obvious, and then grinned, “Kagami, of course.”

“Kagami’s….the leader now?” That was possibly the strangest thing Aomine had ever heard, and his definition of strange had gotten pretty unheard of in the last few weeks.

“Yeah, and it’s been great!” Takao nodded enthusiastically, before propping his chin on his hands, “I mean, better than before definitely, nobody’s died or anything, and once he got used to the idea he’s gotten pretty good at organizing -”

Aomine interrupted again, something important gradually falling into place in his head, “Wait. You’re talking like...it’s been this way for awhile.”

“Oh yeah,” Takao mumbled, seeming apologetic, but then his grin was back full-force, “Sorry, I forgot. You’ve been out of it for almost four days; we were starting to wonder if you’d ever wake up.”

“Four _days_?” Well that explained a lot.

“Yep. Kuroko’s gonna be so thrilled to see you’re okay, he’s been _beside_ himself…”

“Tetsu...has been worried about me?” Aomine asked tentatively.

Takao laughed, “Hell yeah; I’m not sure if he’ll hug you or slap you when he sees you’ve come to, so I’d be prepared for both.”

Shifting, Aomine winced and his eyes slammed shut as his leg gave an outraged protest to the motion, “Yeah I guess I...screwed up pretty bad…” he managed through clenched teeth.

“Mhm,” Takao’s gaze turned sympathetic for a moment, and he folded his arms in front of him to study Aomine thoughtfully, “Kagami says he’s not gonna let you and Akashi get within three meters of each other if he can help it; I think he’s more worried about you strangling Akashi than Akashi doing anything to you, though.”

A tired smirk found Aomine’s lips; he almost didn’t remember what it felt like to smirk. Kagami in charge? He still couldn’t believe it; but as he thought about it, poked at it from different angles, the idea started to look appealing. Akashi had been overthrown, and while that didn’t remove him from the list of what Aomine considered to be threats, it definitely leveled the playing field a bit.

“Damn right.” he said, with conviction, letting his eyes drift closed. _This could work out nicely…._  It had been weeks, maybe years, since he’d felt anything remotely approaching hopeful.

TBC

_((Still working on this story, and man that was an eventful chapter with not a zombie to be seen. I’ve got some plot in mind, rest assured, it’s just...working up to it that’s the problem. I think I liked writing this chapter, but I might have breezed through it a bit too fast, so some of the wording might be sloppy._

_Feedback is always very much appreciated; feed the author!_

_-Shinsun))_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The worst part about close-range combat, Kagami decided, was the mess. He was soaked in old, almost black blood and other stinking bodily fluids; coated so thickly that he was unable to find even a single area of clean skin on himself. Some of the decaying foulness had even gotten in his mouth, and his eyes burned with the stench of it. His fingers ached from pulling and holding the trigger of the machine gun he clutched in his hands, spraying the air with bullets and mowing down droves of lumbering undead that seemed to replenish even as he decimated them; staggering right over the fallen bodies and advancing on him, undeterred. Kuroko was back-to-back with him, his small frame tensing and shifting as he fired again and again, creating openings only for them to be closed just as quickly, as new zombies filed in around them.

“Where are the others?” Kuroko shouted over the deafening rattle of gunfire, glancing over his shoulder at Kagami briefly before expertly sniping another zombie at point-blank range. It was strange to hear him shout at all, and Kagami stopped shooting for a second to answer, reaching up and wiping sweat and gore from his forehead, only managing to smear the clotted mess into his hair.

“I’m keeping an eye on them, whenever I can!” he still had to raise his voice to be heard through the hail of bullets his comrades were unleashing; unseen but definitely not unheard, “So far everything’s still going okay!”

“By that you mean we are gaining no ground, Kagami-kun.” Kuroko pointed out, hitting a withered, slobbering zombie directly between the eyes.

“Well, we’re not losing ground either,” Kagami muttered bitterly, though he doubted his partner caught what he said. He’d caught glimpses of Akashi, Murasakibara, and Midorima, working together to beat back the rest of the zombies; though they were having little success, at least they were sticking together...at least they were alive.

Huffing a breath to himself, and realizing how close he was letting the approaching monsters get, he opened fire once again, immediately spattered by a new layer of dark, grisly paint. The zombies fell like shambling, moaning dominos before him, blank faces contorting and twisting as he blew off their jaws, blasted holes in their cheeks; chunks of sickly gray brain matter spurting from their soft, rupturing skulls. He recognized grimly that even if they each felled fifty zombies a day, their efforts were hardly even a drop in the bucket, but stopping as much of each horde as they could from reaching the base was a start.

“This is useless!” Kuroko yelled after a moment, “This mob is just too big; we should use our remaining ammunition to retreat safely!”

“But -!” Kagami protested, but Kuroko cut him off with a momentary, piercing blue glare.

“Better we get everyone back alive and whole than risk our lives in a battle we simply can’t win today,” he said steadily, “There will be another chance.”

Kagami hesitated, and then nodded twice. He might have been promoted to leader of their little group, but in his opinion, he still had a lot to learn about leading, and tempering the fire in his mind and heart to make the best choice for everyone. Kuroko was the real brains behind the operation, and Kagami didn’t take his advice lightly; knowing one misplaced step could result in yet another death, and this time it would be on his own conscience.

“Alright. Cover me, I’ll grab the others and make an escape route for us,” he decided, rotating their positions so they were facing opposite of where they had before, backs still pressed together.

“Be careful, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said urgently, aiming the handgun in his grip and moving his feet backwards with Kagami’s stride as he forged onward.

Kagami didn’t let up on the trigger, felling zombies left and right, until he reached the place where he’d last seen the rest of his team. It was easier to find them than he’d thought; the piles of bullet-ridden corpses strewn every which way was a pretty good indication, and he found Akashi, Murasakibara, and Midorima standing in a semicircle, firing repetitively at the monsters lumbering towards them from every direction. He got Akashi’s attention, and saw his cold, different-colored eyes narrow, as they always did when he looked at him. The muzzle of the shotgun he was clutching shifted the barest bit in his direction, but he must have ruefully deemed the circumstances and Kagami’s firearm against his favor, because he didn’t complete the veiled threat, instead taking out a zombie from just over Kagami’s shoulder.

Kagami sighed. It was obvious that Akashi was just biding his time at this point, waiting for the right chance to rise up and reclaim the leadership that had been stolen from him. The perfect opportunity hadn’t appeared yet, apparently, but Kagami didn’t have a doubt in his mind that it would eventually, and he hoped he could hold his ground and maintain his position when that day came.

“Hold your fire a second!” he shouted, mustering an air of authority and crossing the circle of blood-soaked ground that separated the living from the undead, “We’re heading back before this gets too out of hand; everyone stick together and watch each others’ backs until we reach the base!”

Murasakibara was the first to lower his weapon with an acknowledging, nasal mutter of “Kaga-chin”; trudging lazily over to him. Midorima followed, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, and after a moment’s reluctance, Akashi trailed after, his shoulders rigid and his mouth a straight, hard line.

With five pairs of eyes and hands, it was much easier to carve a path through the chaos, and after much shuffling and shooting and evading groping hands and gnashing, rotted teeth, they left the carnage behind them, panting the hot, fetid air as they stumbled back to the familiar, abandoned building that had once been a gym. Occasionally one of them would stiffen and turn, blasting an undead straggler’s brains out without breaking stride, but their little group made it back to the base in one piece.

As soon as they were through the door, Kagami turned to Kuroko, and was surprised as his small hand shot out and seized the collar of his shirt, pulling him into a brief, deep kiss that was relieved, passionate, and messy...mostly because of the filth covering both of their faces, mingling unpleasantly, but disregarded when their lips met and melded together. This was the case most of the time, though...there were a lot more “ _thank God we got out of that alive_!” kisses between them than any other kind lately.  

Someone cleared their throat, and the two of them broke apart quickly, Kagami shifting with embarrassment to find everyone’s eyes on him, glad they couldn’t see his flush through the dark burgundy stains streaking his cheeks. Not that it was unusual for the spotlight to drop on him without warning; he’d been quick to realize when he took up Akashi’s position that everyone suddenly turned to him for guidance, status updates, and advice. It was nerve-wracking, but he supposed he would just have to get used to the change. It was for the best, after all.

“Hey, the brave heroes survive,” he heard a familiar, gruff voice speak up, and started in surprise, sure he had imagined it, until he found a pair of indigo eyes, a little dazed with pain and fatigue, boring into him.

“Aomine?” he asked stupidly, rooted to the spot. Kuroko, however, had no such hindrances; tossing his gun aside and flinging himself at the finally awake figure leaning up from his sleeping bag, throwing his arms around his neck. Aomine grinned tiredly against his friend’s shoulder, but then recoiled as Kuroko withdrew and slapped him across the cheek. Kagami saw Takao snigger into his hand from behind Aomine, with a look that seemed to say “ _told you so_ ”.

“Don’t ever do something that stupid again, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko commanded tersely, as Aomine cradled his abused cheek indignantly, “Next time it won’t just be your knee, and I do not want to have to pick up the pieces of your idiocy.”

Beneath the accusatory words, Kagami sensed a note of concern, and smiled slightly to himself, approaching the pair, “Glad to see you back with the living, Aho.”

“Ditto,” Aomine muttered seriously, taking in his gore-spattered appearance, and then a sly grin crossed his face, “So I hear you’re top dog now, Bakagami? I’d kneel before Your Royal Highness if my leg weren’t busted.”

Kagami couldn’t stop himself from hitting him over the head, forgetting for a moment the heavy machine gun he still held in it, “Cut the crap and just treat me normally, moron.”

“Oww...that fucking hurt…” Aomine whined pathetically, gingerly rubbing his scalp, “All of you get your kicks beating the shit out of me, don’t you? What did I ever do to deserve that?”

Kuroko and Kagami exchanged a glance, and Kagami smirked teasingly, “Do you want the list alphabetically or in chronological order?”

“Adding insult to injury, I see…” Aomine grumbled, “Sure you’re not turning into a corrupt dictator or something?”

Kagami didn’t have time to respond to the cryptic and rather unnerving question, because Riko broke in, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but you’re kind of leaving us all hanging, Kagami-kun. How did it go out there?”

Kagami hesitated, flusteredly scratching the back of his neck, “Well you can see everyone’s still alive and well. We didn’t find much, though, there was this huge mob of -”

He broke off as Kuroko elbowed him in the ribs, “What Kagami-kun means to say is we took out over five dozen of the undead, delayed their approach, and returned unharmed.”

That sounded like a much more successful report than what Kagami would have given, and he shot Kuroko an exasperated, but grateful glance.

“Yeah...what he said. It’s probably gonna take some time to find a store that still has food or guns, so we’ll work with what we have for now.”

There was a moment of expectant silence, and Kagami racked his brain to think of what he could be forgetting to cover. Kuroko nudged him again.

“Who is on guard duty tonight?” he prompted in an undertone.

“Oh, r-right…” Kagami stammered, “Well Aomine and I could -”

“Hello, bed-ridden and crippled over here,” Aomine said sarcastically; apparently the lump Kagami had put on his forehead was still smarting.

“Shut up, I know,” Kagami snapped, more irritated with himself than Aomine, “Well then, Tatsuya and Riko, why don’t you -?”

“We were posted here all day,” Tatsuya pointed out gently, from his station by the window.

“Right,” Kagami growled. _Why is this so fucking hard?_ “Midorima and Murasakibara, then. You take the first watch. Akashi and I can take the second,” _I want to keep an eye on him_ … He strained to think of who else he could use. _One dead, two injured, three tired from guarding all day_ … “Kuroko and Takao, you’ll take the midnight shift.”

Takao blinked, taken aback, “Me, really?”

“Yes, you.” Kagami affirmed impatiently, “Your head should be healed by now, and if you had a concussion, it should be sorted out. We need all hands on deck here.”

It had been easier when he hadn’t taken patrols to search for resources and kill zombies; he kept forgetting who he had available to keep watch, and their numbers had significantly dwindled recently. _At least I didn’t suggest Kise or something...that would’ve been much worse._

“Tatsuya, once you’ve gotten some rest, you and I can take the dawn watch,” he decided, “Then I can work on tomorrow’s plan.”

“Wait, Taiga; you’ve got yourself doing two shifts in one night,” Tatsuya pointed out, “When will you sleep?”

Kagami sighed, “I guess I won’t.”

“Nonsense, Kagami-kun, you need your rest as much as anyone - even more than the rest of us, actually,” Riko objected, crossing her arms, “How many times have I told you, you can’t run well on an empty tank? I’ll take the dawn shift with Himuro-kun; I don’t mind missing some beauty sleep.”

“But -”

“We’re just short a few hands for now,” she consoled, “Once Aomine-kun has recuperated enough to sit up straight and aim a rifle, we can use him too.”

“Can’t wait,” Aomine chipped in dryly, sinking back down into his sleeping bag with obvious difficulty.

“It’ll get easier, brother,” Tatsuya murmured, giving him a small, encouraging smile.

“I will help you decide on guard rotations until you become more accustomed; if you wish it, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko added.

Kagami glanced at all them, one by one, and felt a portion of the weight pressing on his shoulders lift. Not enough to relax, but then, he didn’t think any of them even remembered what it felt like to be relaxed anymore. Still, he was grateful for the support, and more than willing to accept it while he was still new to these responsibilities.

“Thanks guys,” he said earnestly.

In the back of his mind, he was aware of Akashi glaring searing daggers at him from across the room, and the nape of his neck prickled with unease.

.

 

.

Kagami jolted awake to the sound of something smashing, something heavy clattering to the ground, and a blood-chilling scream. Shooting to his hands and knees, he got tangled in his sleeping bag before he could scramble to his feet, snatching up the machine gun he’d set beside him. Around him he could hear the others hastily getting up as well, a murmur spreading like the hum of a hive of panicked bees.

“I’m sorry, I…!” he heard Riko stammer hysterically, “I f-fell asleep on the job, th-the window…”

Kagami looked where she’d indicated; several wooden boards had been snapped clean off, one or two a splintered mess, as if something had pried them away and forced its way in.

“Where’s Tatsuya?” he demanded, whipping around and scanning for either a sign of his brother in every sense but blood, or something else…

“I - I don’t know, but I think...a zombie broke in…”

“Impossible,” Midorima scoffed, from just behind Kagami, “The undead do not have the mental capabilities -”

He broke off, and everyone’s eyes turned, as a shadow flitted across the mirrors along the wall of the abandoned gym.

“...Tatsuya?” Kagami asked tentatively, squinting to try to see what was lurking in the room, just out of his field of view. _Zombies don’t sneak,_ he tried to reassure himself, _If one staggered in here, we’d know._

Everyone jumped as the door to the downstairs level creaked open, and Kagami raised the gun in his hands instinctively, lowering it a few centimeters as he recognized the person in the doorway as Tatsuya.

“Tatsuya! What the hell are you doing?” he hissed.

“Everything was quiet, I was just...” Tatsuya began, but his attempted explanation trailed off as his eyes landed on the mangled state of the window, “What happened?”  
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Aomine chipped in from his sleeping bag; he was unable to move around, but Kagami could see his eyes darting like everyone else’s.

“Maybe a _person_ broke in…?” Takao suggested tentatively, running a hand through his hair.

“It is possible,” Kuroko conceded, from Kagami’s side.

“Everyone arm yourselves,” Kagami ordered, quietly but urgently, gaze scanning over the many reflective surfaces lining the walls, over his comrades doing the same. It was a haunting feeling, like being surrounded even when there was no one there.

There was a drawn-out moment of breathless silence. And then...all hell broke loose.

With a crackling groan, the remaining boards covering the window gave way, and Kagami glimpsed only a split-second of dozens of scrabbling hands breaking through before another sound drew his attention, the tinkle of breaking glass. Turning rapidly even as Riko, Midorima and Kuroko started automatically firing at the zombies pouring through the gaping window, he watched in disbelief as one wall of mirrors splintered and crumbled to the ground, more of the undead lurching through the rotted, moldering plaster, amid a waterfall of shattered mirror fragments.

 _But zombies don’t...ambush…?_ He shoved the fumbled, horrified thought away, snapping to action quickly.

“Stick together and shoot your way through!” he shouted, opening fire on the wave of zombies crawling like so many enormous gray spiders through the window, “We’re facing them head-on and getting the hell out of here - !”

He was immediately interrupted by a smoother, higher voice, just as authoritative as his own, as Akashi seized his moment, “He will lead you to your deaths! Follow me to the lower level; we’ll bar the doors and wait out this storm!”

By this point, there were so many bullets flying and zombies swarming that it was difficult for Kagami to hear himself think, and he could see the others wavering indecisively, in the face of the largest horde of the undead Kagami had ever seen.

“That basement is a trap!” he argued, shooting Akashi a heated glare, “We need to escape _now_ , while we still can!”

A thought flitted through his mind, then. _Aomine....shit._ Whirling around, he saw that Kuroko was apparently thinking along the same lines, hooking one arm under the injured man’s shoulder to try to help him to stand, the other jerking back and forth as he targeted zombies and brought them down. Forgetting Akashi for a moment, Kagami dashed to his side and supported Aomine’s other arm, standing up straight and setting him on his feet.

“ _Fuck!_ Careful, you idiot -!” Aomine snapped, eyes squeezing shut in pain.

“Keep your mouth shut, we’ll be lucky to get out of this alive...” Kagami grit out, attempting and failing to aim a machine gun with one hand before throwing it down in frustration, “Kuroko, can you get us out of here?”

“I will not make any promises,” Kuroko panted.

“What about the others?” Aomine asked uncertainly, squinting one eye open.

Kagami looked up, and suddenly understood, in burning clarity, the definition of utter mayhem. The whole room was a roiling, moaning mass of undead flesh. Picking out living beings in the sea of animated corpses would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and all around there was the sound of inarticulate shouting and reverberating gunfire. There was not a mirror in the room that hadn’t been shattered, and the whole place seemed much darker and more dangerous without that little bit of reflected light.

He heard a slam, and glanced haphazardly at the door to the basement, which had just been violently barred shut.

“I think Akashi’s taken care of that,” he muttered ruefully, wondering how many people had followed his familiar orders and promises of easy, temporary security.

“Taiga!” His head snapped up at the sound of his name, and he glimpsed Tatsuya and Riko, the latter crouched on the windowsill, firing the rifle in her grip over and over. Tatsuya had a pistol in each hand, aiming for two zombies at a time, but he seemed frantic, and his shots missed more often than they met their mark. Steering Aomine between them, Kagami and Kuroko fought their way over to them; Kuroko blasting away any zombies in their path, Kagami praying he wouldn’t run out of bullets before they reached the window.

“Akashi-kun led everyone else down below!” Riko informed him, when they finally reached the exit, “I definitely saw Murasakibara-kun and Midorima-kun with him!”

“What about Takao and Mitobe?”

The helpless look he was given wasn’t reassuring.

Letting go of Aomine briefly, Kagami clambered over the windowsill, turning once on the other side and reaching out to help guide him through the opening.

“Here,” Tatsuya tossed Kagami one of his pistols, before leaping back inside to help Kuroko shunt Aomine’s bulk, and with their combined efforts, they managed to lift the large, incapacitated man, ignoring his swearing protests as his injured leg was jarred. There was a pause as they fought back the surging zombies that now only had one focal point, managing to hold them at bay while Kagami got Aomine situated between himself and Riko, supported by both of them, but then...there came a terrifying click, in place of a bang, when Kuroko fired.

“Ah...I am out of bullets,” he said shakily, dropping his gun and backing up a step.

“Then it’s time to go,” Tatsuya urged, pressing his other pistol into Kuroko’s grip and offering his hands like a step-ladder to help him up. Kuroko nodded and stepped into his palms, letting himself be lifted - despite the indignity, Kagami knew; because he knew it was necessary - and climbing out the window to the other side. The zombies were already overtaking Tatsuya by the time Kuroko escaped, and he braced his hands against the windowsill, only for them to be yanked off of it a second later.

“Taiga -!” he yelped, startled, and Kagami felt a twist of horror as his brother was dragged back and smothered by a multitude of cold, dead hands.

“Tatsuya, hold on!” he shouted, dropping Aomine’s arm and starting back toward him, but a strong hand clenching in the back of his shirt stopped him in his tracks. His eyes widened, and he looked back uncomprehendingly at Aomine, who was wearing a heavy expression of defeat and sorrow even as he held Kagami back.

“Don’t, Kagami. There’s…” he swallowed thickly, “...nothing you can do.”

Kagami stiffened. And though his heart was pounding furiously, dangerously fast with the need to save his brother, though his mind had gone blank except for that one, insistent drive hammering at it, though his mouth had gone dry and desperate tears were already welling up in his stinging eyes, he couldn’t make himself move.

Hearing those words from Aomine...from the person who had fought tooth and nail to get back to Momoi even as she changed right before his eyes, who had gotten his knee blown out for refusing to accept the unjust manner of Kise’s death, was the only thing that could have convinced him to swallow the bile rising in his throat, and numbly turn around and start walking...Kuroko and Riko’s shots, the zombies’ groans, and Tatsuya’s agonized, chilling screams as hundreds of dull teeth pierced his flesh, ringing in his ears.

TBC

_((....Yeah, this is kinda where things start falling apart in earnest. Believe it or not I do have a plot planned out for this story, I’m not just killing off people for the fun of it….okay maybe just a little. Lots of shouting in this chapter...and I need to go back and edit every time it says "Himuro" instead of "Tatsuya" in Kagami's internal monologue._

_Reviews are always much appreciated, they’re good motivation to keep writing._

_-Shinsun))_

  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The little group didn’t stop walking, hobbling along like solemn snails, accommodating for Aomine’s handicap, until almost noon. Kuroko - who had replaced Kagami supporting Aomine so he could better lead and guard for threats - was the one who breathlessly suggested they take a rest, and immediately Kagami crumbled against the side of a building, pounding his fist against the bricks as all the bottled grief clawed its way out of his throat in an echoing scream. His cheeks were already slick with tears and blood, and they stung as he rested his forehead on the cool surface in front of him, shoulders shaking with sobs so deep they made his ribs ache.

Gone. Tatsuya, his _brother,_ was _gone._ He felt like a piece of his soul had been torn away, and as he stood there trembling and bawling, his mind kept cruelly replaying the last horrible moments of Tatsuya’s life before his eyes, ringing in his ears; the unbelievable terror and agony he’d endured just before the end. He didn’t deserve that. No one deserved that.

He felt a small hand lightly touch his arm, and turned to see Kuroko beside him, lucid eyes shimmering with sympathy and sorrow. Then his slender arms were wrapped around Kagami’s waist in a fierce hug, his pale blue head nuzzling against his chest, conveying what he didn’t and wouldn’t say. Words were too cheap to alleviate the incessant gnawing of survivor’s guilt.

“It should have been me,” Kagami sniffled into Kuroko’s soft hair, unsteadily breathing in his cool, sweet scent, “I should’ve…”

He heard a grunt behind him, and turned numbly to Aomine. He had been carefully sat on a decaying bench next to Riko, who was examining his leg absently, no doubt just to give her shaking hands something to do.

“Don’t start that shit,” Aomine snapped, eyes flaring with conviction, “None of us has any more right to be here than anyone else. I had to fucking restrain you from throwing yourself back into that hellhole to try to save him.”

“Why did you stop me?” Kagami muttered bitterly, anger surfacing, “If you hadn’t, I might’ve -!”

“If he hadn’t,” Kuroko interrupted calmly, placing a steadying hand on his chest, “You would have died as well, and we would have been without our leader. We cannot afford two needless deaths if one can be prevented.”

“We lost a lot more than two this morning,” Riko chipped in dully, “Dead or trapped, we lost over half of our group, and the base is completely overrun.”

“We can’t go back,” Aomine grit out, crossing his arms over his midriff, “We’re stuck out here on foot with no supplies and no backup.”

Kagami sighed, understanding what he was implying, “Which means...when we run out of bullets, that’s it. That’s the end of it.” _The end of_ us...

“Unless we can find somewhere else to stay,” Kuroko murmured against Kagami’s shirt, “And some new ammunition before then.”

“I’d give us one day, tops.” Bracing his hands against the bench, Aomine tried to stand up once Riko seemed done tending to his leg, but sank back down with a curse and a strained look on his face before he could manage the task, clenching his teeth around a hissing breath, “...Maybe not even that. Once...once it gets dark, we’re sitting ducks out here.”

“Kise managed a night on his own,” Kagami pointed out, stepping away from Kuroko’s embrace.

Aomine visibly flinched, and Kagami wished he’d kept his mouth shut, “Yeah, well, if you haven’t noticed, Bakagami, Kise is _dead._ And we could be going the same way if we don’t figure something out fast.”

Riko tapped her fingers against her lips thoughtfully, “Eventually that huge horde back at base will lose interest in the pulses they’re sensing from the basement and come after us...they don’t really seem like normal undead either...”

“Yeah,” Kagami agreed uneasily, joining the two on the bench, “They seemed...kinda smarter, and faster.”

“They’re evolving,” Kuroko murmured, sitting down in Kagami’s lap and fixing them all with his clear blue stare.

There was a moment of silence, as the theory processed, and Kuroko just waited calmly, working the handle of the pistol Tatsuya had given him between his hands.

“Evolving?” Kagami blinked.

“Yes. In nature, animals develop new traits and instincts based on what their environments demand from them over time -”

“I know what evolution is, dammit,” Kagami interrupted hotly, “Just...how are they changing so quickly? The epidemic only cropped up a few months ago, at most, and only reached Japan in the last few weeks.”

“Well, the undead don’t really follow your standard laws of nature to begin with,” Riko pointed out, “And it could be that they’re not evolving, but _learning_. They were once human, after all.”

Kagami felt a chill crawl down his spine, and fought back a shiver. “Maybe -” he began.

But Aomine’s thread of patience had, apparently, snapped, “Oh just shut up, all of you. Look at us. We’re not scientists, we’re stupid little kids playing with guns. We’ve spent _weeks_ killing these damn things while our friends die around us and we still have no fucking clue what’s going on!”

“We’ve learned some things,” Riko argued meekly, wringing her hands, “And well...at least we’re still alive.”

“ _Four_ of us are still alive!” Aomine shouted, teeth bared, the veins at his neck standing out starkly, “And for how much longer? We can’t afford to waste any more time sitting around and chatting, we need to get the hell out of here while we still can!”

“Aomine-kun,” Kuroko reproached, voice as steady as his gaze. He said nothing else, but Aomine fell silent, and hung his head just slightly, breaking eye contact with him.

After a few seconds, Kagami spoke, lifting Kuroko from his lap like a small child and setting him gently on his feet, “Aomine’s right. If we’re gonna have any chance of getting out of this alive, we need to move now.”

.

 

.

Aomine had to bite back a curse with every step. Even though he was only putting his weight on his good leg, and almost his entire weight was supported on Kagami and Tetsu’s shoulders, every little movement seemed to stretch and jolt his injured knee, inciting bolts of agony in his leg and bile in his throat. _God fucking dammit…_

Akashi was going to have hell to pay when Aomine got ahold of him...when, not if. If he was already dead by the time his leg healed, Aomine decided he’d track him down and kill him again somehow. _Maybe blast off his kneecaps; see how he likes it._ He never liked the guy anyway; he was always so creepily perceptive and an all-around soulless piece of shit. When he locked Kise out, gave him as good as a death sentence, and then murdered him himself, though, he’d crossed over into enemy territory, even before he’d turned his gun on Aomine.

“Hang on...is that…?” Kagami began hesitantly, slowing to a stop. Tetsu followed suit, and shot Kagami a questioning glance around Aomine.

Lifting his gaze from the ground, Aomine looked around, and quickly spotted what he was referring to. Parked innocently on the side of the road, there was an actual, intact police car, practically sparkling in the dying sunlight.

“Usually they’re all smashed up and stuff,” Riko muttered, “Or at least rusty. What’s this doing here?”

At Kagami’s nod, she approached it cautiously, and peered through the windows before returning to them, all but skipping with excitement, “The keys are still inside! It must have been abandoned!”

“Must’ve been pretty damn recent if it’s still in such good shape,” Aomine mumbled, letting all the implications of that sink in.

“Which means...there were people here, a few days ago at the most.” Tetsu murmured, “More survivors.”

“Police officers,” Kagami added, shuffling toward the vehicle with Aomine and Tetsu in tow, “So they must’ve been armed. Maybe they’re still alive, maybe they’ll come back for it.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Aomine said grimly, “And it won’t be here if they do.”

“What do you mean?” Tetsu asked, crystal blue eyes going wide, “You don’t mean _steal_ it?”

“Finders keepers. Besides, we need shelter and transportation; are you suggesting we _don’t_ take it?”

Tetsu gave him an unimpressed look, and he felt a prickle of shame for suggesting something so petty and dishonest, but desperate times, right? They wouldn’t get another chance like this...they couldn’t afford not to take it.

“Are the doors locked?” Kagami asked, his odd eyebrows lifting with interest.

“Not you too,” Tetsu protested, turning his glare on him.

“I was just asking...if this thing has gas, we could at least try to use their radio. Maybe we can pick up a signal and call for help.”

“That’s...actually pretty smart, for a Bakagami,” Aomine admitted, “I’m impressed; your head is good for something besides telling your stomach when it’s time to eat.”

Kagami scowled immediately, his arm shifting under Aomine’s, “I swear to God I will drop you on your ass if you don’t shut the hell up, _Aho_ mine.”

A heavy click and a happy whoop from Riko dissolved the beginnings of bickering between them.

“They’re not locked! Get your heads out of your asses and over here; take a look at this!”

Apparently, Kagami’s eyes lighted immediately on the box sitting in the passenger seat, because a wide smile he hadn’t sported in a good long while lit up his face, “Donuts!”

“Who’re you, Murasakibara?” Aomine scowled, “Anyway, don’t eat those, they’re probably stale as shit.”

“And they aren’t _ours_ ,” Tetsu chipped in, with a tiny edge of distaste in his otherwise monotonous voice.

“Yeah yeah,” Kagami muttered hastily, “I wasn’t thinking of eating them…” The disappointed look on his face - almost a pout - put paid to the lie, but he seemed to recover his dampened enthusiasm quickly enough, “Riko, do you think you can get the radio working?”

“Maybe,” Riko shrugged, leaning across the driver’s seat to fiddle with the device, “I can’t promise I can get us connected to anyone, though. You guys do me a favor and keep watch, alright?”

Kagami glanced at Tetsu for affirmation, and then nodded, “Sure. Aomine can sit in the passenger seat and help you if you like; I’m sure he’d _love_ to be of assistance.”

Aomine didn’t miss the opportunity to flip the bastard off, but didn’t put up too much of a struggle as he was maneuvered to the other side of the car and placed right where the donut box used to be - no doubt Kagami had snatched it at the first opportunity to see if its contents were any good.

 _I fuckin’ hate being so useless_ , he decided, crossing his arms with a huff. He didn’t regret standing up for Kise’s honor, but damn was this a steep price to pay for someone who was unable to show their gratitude or return the favor. He wouldn’t even be able to get revenge on Akashi unless they all somehow made it out alive. ...And he was starting to doubt they would.

He let his mind wander as Riko messed with the radio, holding the microphone in her hand and trying to pick up some kind of signal. All he could hear was a symphony of static, changing frequency now and then, but no other sound disturbed the quiet. The black upholstery of the seat was hot under the baking sun, and he shifted uncomfortably, only to wince as his leg twinged a protest. Through the slightly-smudged windshield, he could see Kagami and Tetsu leaning against the front grill, each of them gripping a pistol with an undetermined amount of bullets, seeming to be talking quietly to each other. A tiny prickle of now-distant, no longer burning envy reached him when he glimpsed their interlocked hands resting on the hood of the car. As romantic a gesture as it was, their knuckles were both unnaturally, starkly white; fingers gripping each other with the desperation of drowning men, as if each would never again have a chance to hold the other’s hand. Which just might have been true...this could very well be everyone’s last day or so to live.

So Aomine supposed he should live and let live, while he could.

At that revelation, so sneaky he didn’t even realize it had registered at first, he lowered his gaze to his own lap, to his own hands clasped around his bent good knee, the gesture as lonely as theirs was romantic. Some vile, self-centered facet of him was gradually loosening its grip; he could feel it, as the circumstances began to seem more dire than ever before. Tetsu had made his choice...made it a thousand times over, and he deserved to have this moment alone with the person he loved. One of the last of such moments he might ever experience in his lifetime. He deserved that and so much more, and really, Aomine just wanted… _I just want them to be happy. Both of them._

There was so little left in the world to smile about, but Kagami had still burst into that careless, boyish grin at the sight of a familiar frosted treat he’d likely thought extinct in this world...and Tetsu could still give that small, gentle curving of lips that couldn’t quite be called a smile, that spoke of so much love and longing, at the sight of Kagami. How could Aomine bear to come between them? _Not like I’m any use to them now anyway...I can’t walk or even stand on my own, but they still saved me. They still dragged my ass out of that nightmare of zombies when they could have just run. And now I’m just a goddamn deadweight, slowing them down._

“Aomine-kun, would you mind giving this a shot?” Riko muttered tiredly, holding out the microphone in her hand, “Maybe you’ll have better luck.”

 _I doubt it._ “Hn.” Taking the proffered device, he scooted forward despite the objections of his knee and shuffled the dials on the little box sitting on the dashboard, pressing and releasing the button on the side of the microphone in imitation of Riko, echoing her useless, irrelevant locations and requests for a response, from somewhere...from anywhere.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Kagami dip his head down and press his lips to Tetsu’s, lifting his unarmed hand to thread it through his hair, and he waited for the corrosive surge of jealousy to come. ….He was surprised to feel nothing, except a grumbling thought that they should be watching each other’s backs, not caressing them. Distracted, his hand slipped on the dial, and through the crackle of static he thought he made out a garbled voice say something unintelligible.

“Don’t move!” Riko commanded, leaning forward and staring at the radio as if the speaker would materialize right there in the car and save them all.

Removing his hand from the dial, Aomine hesitantly pressed the button on the microphone and spoke, “Hello? Is someone there, what’s your location?”

There was a moment of fuzzy silence, and then the muffled voice answered; choppy and difficult to make out. At least he could discern that the person was probably male, and he could pick out a few words, “....Warehouse...near the….gymnasium….Winter Cup was held…Are you nearby?”

Aomine waited a moment, and then responded hesitantly, “We can come to you, I know the area. Who’s speaking? Are you alone?” It was unlikely a lone survivor would have lasted this long, he reasoned, but it was possible. There was something a little familiar about that voice too...maybe it was someone they knew.

“....Junpei...I’m Hyuuga Junpei…”

“Hyuuga-kun!” Riko shrieked disbelievingly, cutting off whatever else the person was saying, and Aomine snorted with annoyance, but handed over the microphone she was grabbing for anyway.

“Riko…?” Aomine heard Hyuuga ask through the fizzling static, voice still distorted, but coming in a little clearer, “...Is that you?”

“Yes. Yes, Hyuuga-kun, it’s me, and I’ve got Kagami-kun, Kuroko-kun, and Aomine-kun here with me.”

“You’re all alive? ...Do you know if anyone else…?” The rest of the question was lost, completely unheard, and Riko spoke up, as if trying to shout across the distance separating them.

“Hyuuga-kun? We’re going to meet you at the warehouse, alright? Wait for us there?”

There was no answer, only the roaring of static, and after a few seconds Riko set the microphone down and switched off the radio.

.

 

.

The car had just enough gas to take them within sight of the warehouse, but then it gave out with a shuddering groan of defeat, and refused to budge further. It was almost a half-mile trek from there, slowed by the burden of Aomine supported between Kagami and Riko.

The news that Hyuuga was alive and presumably safe was a welcome shock, and there had been no hesitation from anyone, not even Kuroko, before they were careening toward a new destination, and losing daylight with every mile. Occasionally Kagami had had to steer them around a few straggling zombies, but it wasn’t quite the massive hordes he’d expected...he wondered where all of them could be. Still banging on the door to the lower level of the base, waiting to feast on their comrades waiting below? Or making their sluggish pursuit while his small, weary, hungry group tried to outrun both them and the sun, which plunged ever lower across the horizon?

The warehouse was a mess; the walls all but falling in on themselves, with no functional door in sight, only various yawning gaps and crevices that would no doubt let in both the heat and the cold...not that the place’s unsteady frame would protect much better against the elements. The surrounding area was a mess of broken glass and splintered wood, as well as some steel piping bent and twisted almost into knots jutting up from the ground...and there was a disturbing mural of old, dark brown bloodstains spattered across the dry, cracked earth, and the dusty floor inside.

They’d hardly managed to catch their breath and recline Aomine against one of the walls before they were greeted by a familiar, chipper face...though not nearly as familiar or chipper as Kagami would have hoped. Hyuuga was gaunt and pale, his skin marked with several bruises and badly-healed cuts, no doubt the result of the hazardous environment around him. His glasses were missing - a chief trait of his appearance - and there was a long, deep scratch across the bridge of his nose, shaped in such a way that Kagami wondered if the nosepiece of his absent glasses smashing into his face had caused it.

Before he could even finish his beaming greeting - which showed two missing teeth - Riko had thrown her arms around him and crushed him viciously in a hug, half-chattering, half-sobbing into his shoulder; most of what she said was impossible to make out, she was so distraught.

“Hyuuga-senpai, you look like you have been brawling,” Kuroko observed, approaching him hesitantly and sweeping his sharp eyes over his elder’s injuries, “What happened?”

“I could ask the same of all of you,” Hyuuga replied breezily, “How’ve you survived this long in such good shape? And what happened to him?” He jerked his chin in Aomine’s direction, and the darker man raised a hand in a curt, halfhearted hello from where he sat against the wall.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Kagami cut in, “We were with Akashi and his group for the last few weeks...we haven’t seen you or anyone else from Kyoshi’s group since we got separated.” And he decided not to go into too much detail _there._..the subject of Kyoshi’s demise was still rather raw for those who were close to him, “We set up a base with about ten people - the whole Generation of Miracles included - in an abandoned gym and started sending out parties to hoard supplies...at first it was rough, but we got by and eventually things were going relatively well for us.”

“Until Satsuki got bitten.” Aomine muttered, averting his gaze.

“....Yeah, after Momoi’s death, things started going downhill again,” Kagami scratched the back of his neck, avoiding Hyuuga’s inquisitive, but rather dull grey eyes, “We found Takao in a gas station, but lost track of Kise, and when he showed up again, he’d been scratched. Akashi shot him before he’d fully transformed and Aomine flew off the handle, so Akashi shot Aomine. That’s why his leg’s in such bad shape. After that, we overthrew Akashi and I...took his place as leader of our group. But things got really crazy last night, when a huge horde broke into the base. We lost track of the rest of the group, but it seems like they’re hiding the basement now, and…” he swallowed thickly, “...We lost Tatsuya in the struggle. Since then we’ve just tried to keep moving, and then we were able to contact you and come here.”

“Are you living here all alone, Hyuuga-senpai?” Kuroko asked, tilting his head.

Hyuuga opened his mouth to speak, but a lazy, simpering voice interrupted before he could get a word in edgewise.

“Come on, don’t give him that much credit. You’re hurting my feelings.” Kuroko stiffened as the man swaggering carelessly through the doorway came into view, and Kagami couldn’t help but do the same. It had been a long time, after all, since he’d seen this particular sneering face.

And Kuroko beat him to the question burning on the tip of his tongue; “What are you doing here, Hanamiya-kun?”

TBC

_((Good God, this chapter took forever, and took some staying up all night to accomplish. But it’s finally done *whew*, and after this there’s only one or two more before this story comes to an end. Though I may be writing some one-shots or side-stories or something if I have the time and drive. ….And again, not a single zombie in this chapter, *silent tear*, we’ll have to make up for that later, won’t we?_

_So sorry for the delay, I’m still adjusting to school starting back up, but I’ve got my computer fixed so hopefully I’ll be able to get on my nightly writing routine again._

_Reviews give me life; takes a second, means a lot. Thank you._

_-Shinsun))_

  



	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Why are you two staying here together?” Kagami demanded, glaring at the smug face he’d hoped never to see again after he’d defeated it on the basketball court, a lifetime ago.

“Well we thought it would make a nice summer home,” Hanamiya smirked, propping his hands on his hips, one of which was clenched around a jagged, bloody piece of steel bar about the length of his arm. Like Hyuuga, he sported his fair share of injuries, though not nearly as severe. A few faded bruises on his upper arms, one much darker one near his eye, and a smattering of scabs and scrapes marred his skin. But he did not look like a man who was suffering; he gleamed with mirth and the air of malice that had hung around him since high school, and probably before.

“Be serious, for once in your life, why don’t you?” Hyuuga snapped, glaring at Hanamiya like he was something unpleasant stuck to the bottom of his shoe. ...Which wasn’t too far off, “I was part of a smaller, looser group after Kyoshi was lost - a couple of former Touou guys led by Wakamatsu, and some others whose names I don’t remember, who were little more than kids. I got separated from them on a food raid, and I quickly ran out of bullets...” he swallowed with disgust, “I would have been killed if this prick hadn’t stepped in and put a wrench through the skull of one of the zombies trying to latch onto me. Since then we’ve been working together, taking shifts guarding and sleeping, and keeping the zombies back. But it’s not like we’re suddenly best buddies or anything.” He shot Hanamiya a venomous glare, and was rewarded with a sneer and a stuck out tongue.

Rather suddenly, Kagami wondered if the injuries covering them both were the results of them fighting _each other_. It seemed like a waste of energy when there were much worse things to fight right outside their door, and they did need each other to survive, but he had to admit, if he was forced to spend every day in close proximity with Hanamiya, he would be hard-pressed not to throw at least a few punches his way.

“We barely managed to keep our base secure with _three_ guards, how do the two of you manage it on your own?” Kuroko asked.

“Sometimes a few slip through our defenses,” Hyuuga admitted, “And we’ve had a couple close calls...we watch and patrol almost constantly; there hasn’t been much sleep for either of us since we relocated here. I think running on twenty minutes is about normal nowadays.”

“And you don’t have any guns?” Kuroko pressed.

“Nope,” Hanamiya said carelessly, tossing the bar in his hand over his shoulder, “Hand-to-hand combat, little sucker, it takes it out of a guy. But lemme tell you, there’s nothing more satisfying than lobotomizing one of those creeps with a drain pipe and watching it twitch.”

Kuroko winced, and subsided into silence, shifting his feet uncomfortably at the obvious tone of relish Hanamiya had used.

“We use what we’ve got on hand as makeshift weapons,” Hyuuga added, clearly with more distaste than his sadistic partner, “Beams, pipes, cinderblocks, you name it. I’d throw the radio at their heads if I thought it’d do the job.”

“How do you get food?” Riko asked, gently prodding Hyuuga’s protruding ribs, “You’re obviously not getting enough.”

“There were a few crates of non-perishables when we got here, but most of them ran out pretty quick,” Hyuuga explained, “Now we’re down to rations and whatever we can scrape from the stores nearby. Busted open a few vending machines at the gym next door, but otherwise we’ve mostly picked this place clean.”

“What happens when you run out?”  
“....I guess we’ll worry about that when we get there.”

Kagami couldn’t help but feel impressed. On their own, with no one to help or lead them, these two were doing a job fit for ten men, and though they weren’t in the best of shape and hated each other’s guts, they’d lived to tell the tale, thus far.

Hanamiya shrugged and stuck his bloody hands in his pockets, still smirking, “It’s not much of a living, but we are alive. If you losers want to join us here, we’d be _thrilled_ to have you. Can’t promise you a Welcome Aboard party, though; we’re fresh out of streamers.”

.

 

.

So Kagami’s group merged with Hyuuga’s, with no clear authority or fixed schedule, and it became clear to Aomine right away that everyone was tense...most likely because of the presence of that douchebag Hanamiya, hanging in the spacious warehouse like a foul smog. He wondered why Hyuuga didn’t just double-cross him in his sleep - maybe leave him for the zombies if he didn’t have the stomach for it - but then, he did kind of owe him a life-debt; maybe putting up with his repulsive personality was his repayment. Besides, he supposed they both had a greater chance of survival if they worked together, instead of separately. And his eyes had roved more than once over the bruises mottling both of their faces and arms...well, even tolerance had its limits.

The trouble about being the injured party, incapacitated while everyone else could stand and fight, was that it was terribly boring. The first couple days while the others fell into a rhythm and got accustomed to being near one another, Aomine just sat against the wall and watched, unable to volunteer for any of the tasks being distributed, or even move away when Hanamiya decided to pester him. He could only pretend not to hear him for so long, but he didn’t dare return any of the scorn or veiled insults that were heaped on him with no repercussion, because if he did it was possible Hanamiya would beat the shit out of him, injury or no...and he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. That last fact pissed him off the most; he’d already paid for his audacity, and he couldn’t afford to step out of line again. Not that this sadistic piece of trash was in any way as formidable as Akashi, nor should he have to obey him as if he was.

They’d been at the warehouse for about two days now; two relatively uneventful days in which they mostly caught each other up in more detail on what had been going on recently, and the strongest ventured out occasionally to keep the zombies at what could be called a comfortable distance. But of course no one was comfortable with it. The warehouse felt so much more vulnerable and open than their old base, devoid of windows, and without electricity or reflective mirrors for light when darkness fell.

Eventually, Hanamiya announced that they were cutting dangerously deep into their paltry food reserves, and part of their group should set out to restock and investigate the surrounding area. Everyone except Aomine - for obvious reasons - volunteered to go, likely feeling cramped and restless from staying in one place for so long, not knowing what was happening in the outside world. Aomine had already resigned himself to waiting in the empty warehouse alone for them all to return, wondering how  he would defend himself if a zombie wandered in, when Kagami approached him with an uncharacteristically serious expression, Tetsu at his side.

“Kuroko is staying here,” he’d declared, shooting a glance at Tetsu, whose pale eyes immediately went wide with surprise, a little bit of outrage and betrayal flashing in their depths.

 _So he didn’t ask his opinion beforehand...strange._ Aomine thought to himself; that was enough to pique his interest, and he’d resolved to pay close attention to this.

“But Kagami-kun, I can -” Tetsu objected, rounding on him with a penetrating glare, and Kagami stopped him by holding up a hand, unwavering.

“I know you can defend yourself as well as anyone else here,” he conceded, with a surprising show of patience, “That’s why I’m leaving you here to hold down the fort and look after Aomine, who can’t right now.”

Aomine decided not to take the patronizing remark personally, in favor of focusing on the discussion before him, and to his slight surprise, Tetsu caved without putting up any more of a fight. He had clearly been reluctant to be left behind, but perhaps his pride had been soothed by Kagami’s explanation; then again, it was possible that he just liked the idea of being able to protect Aomine. He’d almost wanted to snort irritably at the prospect. Tetsu might as well hold it over his head while he had the chance.

Kagami then told Tetsu to take the last remaining pistol, which only had one or two bullets left, and only after Tetsu had nodded and turned to retrieve the gun did he kneel in front of Aomine so he could look him in the eye, his steely attitude persisting.

“...You aren’t really leaving Tetsu to babysit me, are you?” Aomine asked skeptically, trying to read his confusing expression.

“No,” Kagami agreed, breaking eye-contact briefly, “...I already lost my brother, and just about everyone else I ever loved, I can’t lose him too.”

Aomine hesitated, and then nodded shortly, assuming he’d pieced together the other’s intent. “So you want me to make sure he doesn’t leave or do anything stupid while your back is turned.”

“Actually, that’s not quite it,” Kagami had fixed him with the full force of his determined gaze then, all the raw desperation and fear and refusal to suffer another loss like Himuro exuding from it, “I want you to promise me something.”

Aomine blinked, a little unsure about the intensity he was being faced with, but in the end he decided to play nice, for now. “What’s that?”

“Promise me if something goes wrong, if he’s in danger and there’s anything you can do to keep him safe, do it. Protect him, at all costs.”

“Sure,” Aomine shrugged, _I mean, I was kind of gonna do that anyway…_

But Kagami hadn’t let him off that easily, “I mean swear to it.”

Shifting slightly, ignoring the jolt of pain slashing up his leg, Aomine averted his gaze for a second or two, “Why is this suddenly so important?”

“I need to know he’ll be safe,” Kagami pressed stubbornly, “No matter what happens. Promise?”

It had occurred to him then just how much trust Kagami was placing in him, to ensure Tetsu’s safety, even if it meant sacrificing his own. He couldn’t ask anyone else this favor.

He swallowed, and then met Kagami’s eye again, “I...I promise.”

That had been several hours ago. Presently, the sun was just starting to set; Aomine had a perfect view of it through the gaping hole of the entryway. To one side of him was a large plank of wood that he could only adequately describe as a club, a few nails sticking out suggesting it was once part of a crate of some kind. To his other side was Tetsu, reclining against his shoulder, their last remaining loaded pistol cradled loosely in his hand as he breathed soft, snuffling snores against Aomine’s neck. Aomine held his breath in between Tetsu’s exhalations, breathing with him; the warm puffs of air against his skin almost too much temptation.

He’d been in a mental argument with himself for a good half hour or so, since Tetsu had tired out and sat beside him before promptly drifting to sleep practically in his lap. The dumbest part was that he’d already had this discussion with himself before. He knew this song and dance; suppressing the skin-deep attraction and soul-deep love that would push both of the only friends he had left in the world away in one fell swoop. But he’d never been this close, metaphorically or literally, to what he’d wanted from the moment he’d stepped onto the court for real beside the sometimes-invisible boy who’d fanned, extinguished, and then rekindled his love for basketball, all those years ago. His love no longer centered around the sport he’d left behind long ago - and would probably never be able to play again…- it had branched off; become purer and more mature, and losing Tetsu to someone else right before the world plunged into apocalyptic chaos had done nothing whatsoever to dampen the flame of it.

But, as he’d been telling himself over and over for weeks and months, it didn’t matter. What he wanted didn’t matter, his history alongside Tetsu didn’t matter. He belonged to someone else, to _Kagami,_ Aomine’s valued rival and best friend. He didn’t have any right to try to take them away from each other for his own selfish means.

Losing everything he’d ever cared about and realizing life was so fragile and brief really changed a person.

His head snapped up at the sound of footsteps and hushed voices, and abruptly, the orange light pouring through the doorway was obstructed, as several figures blocked it, shambling into the warehouse like the zombies they had just been destroying.

Hunching his shoulder in a nudge to rouse Tetsu from his nap, Aomine squinted to try to discern the state of the group, and the first thing his eyes landed on was the amount of blood all of them were wearing. That wasn’t a surprise; they had just been right in the fray of battle - with melee weapons instead of guns - what _was_ a surprise was that a certain member of their company was not standing tall and forging ahead, but leaning heavily on Hyuuga’s shoulder, crimson head bowed as he panted for breath. And none of them seemed to bring anything resembling food.

“What happened?” he demanded, wishing with all his heart he could stand up and approach them to assess the situation himself. He really was starting to hate looking up at people like a sniveling child.

Kagami opened his mouth to speak, and Hyuuga’s reaction was strange, recoiling as if he’d been burned, leaving Kagami to sway, stagger severely, and then fall to his hands and knees. To Aomine’s further surprise, no one moved to help him up. The gears in his mind felt like they were working sluggishly, unable to make sense of what he was looking at, and Tetsu beat him to speaking, suddenly wide awake and alert. Aomine hadn’t even felt him sit up straight.

“What’s wrong with Kagami-kun?” When no one immediately answered, Tetsu stood, glaring first at Riko, then Hanamiya and Hyuuga, “Tell us, what happened out there?”

Riko bit her lip, eyes on the dirty floor, and then looked tearfully back at him, “...Kagami-kun’s been bitten.”

Aomine felt like she’d punched him in the stomach, and all the air left his lungs in a rush.

He said nothing, just turning his gaze back to Tetsu, who was shaking his head disbelievingly; Aomine could see how he was trembling even from where he was.

“No...no, that’s not possible…”

Kagami raised his head slightly, eyes feverish, face pale as a sheet, “K-Kuroko…”

“Why did you bring him here?” Aomine asked hoarsely, not knowing who he was directing the question at. It was greeted with silence, and his patience grew short, “Why the _fuck_ did you bring him back here?”

“H-he’s our leader,” Riko stammered, her hands - her _unarmed_ hands -fidgeting, “A-and it was just quick, he...seemed to shake it off, we thought...and then...I just...we couldn’t just leave him.”

“The horde…” Kagami choked out, “Th-the huge one that...that ambushed us at the base..”

He trailed off, and Hyuuga picked up the slack, a tremor of fear in his voice, “We ran into that enormous mob, and well, there was nothing we could do against it. There were thousands of them, we could barely fight our way out... At the rate they were following us, they’ll be here by nightfall.”

“We’re all gonna die anyway,” Hanamiya muttered, glancing down at Kagami’s shaking form, “What’s one more soon-to-be mindless killing machine -?"

“Don’t -!” Tetsu interrupted pleadingly, eyes unnaturally bright with tears, “Don’t say that, _please_ …”

There was a moment of silence, punctuated only by the rasping of Kagami’s labored breath and the muted creak of floorboards.

“...So what are we going to do?” Aomine prodded, hands clenching and unclenching in his lap, “What’s the plan?”

“There isn’t one, stupid,” Hanamiya snapped, the sneer gone from his voice, which had gone completely cold and hard with anger, and maybe fear, “We might as well all say our prayers and kiss our asses goodbye. This is the end; we can’t fight them all off like this, and we can’t escape.”

Closing his eyes, Aomine took a deep breath, and then opened them again, banishing the protests and doubts clamoring in his head, “Maybe not all of us...”

Tetsu blinked, and looked over at him, “...Wh-what do you mean, Aomine-kun?”

“We can’t all outrun them, especially not with me slowing you all down. You have to get out of here on your own. Take the last pistol and get as far away as you possibly can.”

“Aomine-kun -” Kuroko began, in a shocked whisper.

“Shut it, Tetsu,” Aomine grit out, summoning his fraying determination before it could falter and wink out, “I’ll...I’ll stay here with Kagami while he changes, and buy you all some time. ...S-sensing another zombie feeding should whip them into a frenzy and draw the horde to me, and you should be able to get away.”

“You don’t mean…?” Riko gasped.

He nodded rigidly, unable to give verbal confirmation with the way his teeth were cutting into his tongue.

“Then what?” Hanamiya drawled, the only one who seemed to take Aomine’s decision to let himself be eaten alive with a grain of salt.

“Then just keep moving, keep yourselves alive; take the radio and see if you can find any more survivors...it should still have some battery power left.”

“Aomine,” Kagami murmured unsteadily, trying to hold his gaze, “Are you sure?”

Aomine sighed, commanding his muscles not to shake with primal terror and denial in the face of his own impending demise, “....I’m sure.”

“No!” Tetsu shouted - actually _shouted_ \- trying to throw himself at him, “Aomine-kun, you _can’t_!”

Shoving him away as effectively as he could in his position, though the harsh, impersonal gesture just about cracked his heart into pieces, Aomine held firm and addressed Riko and the others, “If you have to fucking hit Tetsu over the head and drag him away unconscious, do it; just make sure he gets out of here alive. ….I made a promise.”

Kagami blinked, and Aomine thought he saw gratitude cross his face through the discomfort and emotional turmoil. For much too long, everyone remained quiet and inactive, until he broke the silence, voice strained but still retaining the old authority he’d honed in his time as leader, “Well you heard him. ...Go, now, while you still have time.”

“O-okay, uh…” Riko said tremulously, dragging Tetsu over by the wrist, “Th-thank you, and….and good luck.”

Aomine fought the urge to roll his eyes, and thankfully Kagami had more tact than him, even in his state, “Good luck...to all of you. ...Kuroko,” Tetsu raised his head, looking at Kagami with one part question and three parts anguish, “I love you.”

Tetsu swallowed thickly, lower lip trembling, and then yanked his hand out of Riko’s grasp, kneeling and hugging Kagami desperately around the shoulders, “I-I l-love you s-s-so much, K-Kagami-kun,” he managed, before his whole small frame shook, and he broke into tears.

 _And I love you, Tetsu,_ Aomine added, keeping the thought silent, because he was afraid if he said it aloud it would be accompanied with pleas for him not to go, _...I always have._

“Now go,” he commanded instead, “We’ll be fine.” A complete lie, but then, everyone here knew that.

Riko and Hyuuga simultaneously nodded, and together they took Tetsu’s arms and pulled him away from Kagami, despite his frantic tears and struggling and _screaming_ \- which Aomine had never heard, but it tore at his heart - and turned to leave. Hanamiya hung back, stooping to pick up the fallen pistol, and for a fleeting moment his eyes connected with Aomine’s.

He said nothing, but inclined his head the barest bit, in what Aomine scarcely believed, but could only be called a small bow of respect. And then he withdrew as well, and Aomine was alone with his friend who was slowly turning into a monster before his eyes.

“....You didn’t...have to do that,” Kagami said after a long moment, sitting down heavily with what seemed like every last ounce of his strength. Better to die sitting than sprawled on the floor, Aomine reasoned; he was in the same boat.

“Yeah, I did.” he muttered, “I promised, didn’t I, that I’d protect him? And anyway, at least now they have a chance.”

“They might all die out there…” Kagami pointed out, absently touching his shoulder, where Aomine could just make out a dark, bloody ring of teeth marks indenting his skin, already inflamed, crawling with infection, and leaking sickly discharge.

“Mm,” Aomine nodded, “But maybe they won’t.”

Kagami didn’t say anything for several seconds, and Aomine wanted to protest the silence, because it was fucking terrifying just sitting around waiting to die. He was breathing more quickly than normal, but shallowly, and his heart was trying in earnest to hammer its way out of his chest, as if attempting to make up for the lifetime of beats it was never going to have time for.

“Aomine…” Kagami began after a moment, lips gradually turning blue as whatever remaining color left his face, “I’m sorry.”

Aomine blinked, “For what?”

“This...this whole mess. I’m sorry I didn’t have it in me to shoot Kise, and let Akashi cripple you...I’m sorry in advance...f-for killing you,” he sighed shakily, and hung his head “But...mostly I’m sorry I was never able to give you what you wanted. I...I knew you loved Kuroko, but I took him from you anyway…and now I can never make it up to you.”

Aomine shifted his weight uncomfortably, but didn’t look away from him, much as it was disturbing to watch the life drain out of him little by little, leaving him looking like a talking corpse, “Dumbass, I never blamed you for that...well, maybe a little at first. But I’m over it now, I got my head out of my ass and back on my shoulders where it belongs. It doesn’t really matter now since we’re both gonna die soon, but I’m….I’m glad he could be happy with you, for at least a while.” Even while he was speaking, he could see Kagami hunching forward, foam bubbling at the corners of his lips, and knew he probably couldn’t hear what he was saying anymore, but he kept going anyway, needing it to be out there while he had the chance, “I do love Tetsu, I have for years and years, but I saw that you did too, and he picked you in the end. That’s what matters. ...I guess my...my point is, I forgive you, Bakagami. A-and I’m glad I got to spend my last few seconds on Earth with you, even if you are a Bakagami. The only one who...who can beat me is you, after all, and now you can...b-beat me...once and for all.”

He kept his gaze on his own lap, keeping his breathing as slow and controlled as he possibly could, but he could still hear the heavy thud as Kagami collapsed and crumpled in on himself, and then the thrashing and gurgling moans and growls as the transformation completed.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered under his breath, his eyes stinging mercilessly, “...Tetsu.”

Gulping, he looked up in time to see Kagami’s eyes cloud over, and a single tear fell from his lashes before cold, dead hands clamped on his arms and the rotten teeth behind Kagami’s black lips ripped into his throat.

TBC

_((Again with the chapters taking me longer than necessary;  at least I had a concrete plan for this one. ...Well now, it seems I’ve lost both my primary narrators...maybe I’ll have to switch over to Kuroko’s POV or something for the last chapter, where I suppose I’ll have to tie off all my loose ends and such._

_Reviews are lovely, as always, feed the author! Or...you know...gang up on me, if you want, considering how this chapter ended._

_We’re in the home stretch guys, this story’s almost done!_

_-Shinsun))_

  
  



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